The Evening Standard reports analysis by the County Council Network (CCN) revealed that the number of over-65s living in county and rural areas has increased by a million over the past decade

The CCN raised concerns that the demographic shift is heaping pressure on underfunded adult social care services.

County councils are also concerned that reforms to adult social care, due to be introduced from October 2023, could lead to reduced quality and access to services unless the Government provides more funding and changes how it shares resources between councils.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:

“Reforming adult social care is a priority and we are investing £5.4 billion over the next three years to end spiralling care costs and support the workforce.

This includes £3.6 billion to reform the social care charging system and enable all local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care, and a further £1.7 billion to begin major improvements across adult social care in England.”

Full article:

The Evening Standard - Boom in elderly in rural areas ‘increasing pressure on social care services’