The report warns that higher home care costs and greater distances are "condemning" the rural elderly
Elderly and vulnerable people living in rural parts of the country are facing a "terrifying" crisis situation in terms of poor access to social care.
Other challenges are also brought about by geographical isolation and public sector austerity, according to a new report published on Thursday (25 January) by Rural England CIC.
The report highlights the "acute and often unique" challenges affecting the rural elderly in terms of home-based social care, related to demographics, service provision and costs.
The challenges include older people making up a significantly higher percentage of the total population in rural areas and more than one in nine rural people currently providing unpaid care.
Together, these facts lead the authors to call on Government and service providers to take steps to "stave off a worsening situation" that risks "abandoning" vulnerable individuals because of where they live.
'Real struggle'
Rural councils, on average, pay significantly more (13%) than urban councils when commissioning adult social care services (£15.61 an hour compared to £13.78), the report finds.
Yet among the challenges identified by the report are that lower population density in rural areas – with less clustering of service users in the same area - prevents economies of scale.
This means providing care at home can be "prohibitively expensive". At the same time, there is significant pressure on local authorities to achieve cost savings in social care, which can result in a lessening of the home care that is offered or a reduction in quality.
The report also adds that with the "ever worsening" of public transport in rural areas, for those older people without access to a car a medical appointment, even with a GP, can be a "real struggle".
As a result, the authors warn that, for the rural elderly, first contact with social services is often at a ‘moment of crisis’ – reducing the opportunity for sometimes lifesaving earlier intervention.
'Rural-proofing'
The report is calling for greater focus on "rural-proofing" in the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans, which is said to have been given "scant regard" up to now.
Philip Dunne MP, Co-Chair elect of the APPG for Rural Services said: "I know the pressure providers are under in rural areas from greater distances and challenges in finding qualified staff, though technological advance is beginning to help.
"I hope this report will help raise the voice for those in need of care in rural areas to contribute to the Green Paper on Social Care that the Government will be producing over coming months. I look forward to playing my part in ensuring this voice is heard."
Margaret Clark CBE, Chair of Rural England’s Stakeholder Group, said: "This report highlights worrying evidence about the poor provision of, and access to, home-based social care services for elderly individuals in rural England, which have severe consequences for the health and wellbeing of an increasing number of people in rural communities.
"We urgently need government and service providers, at all levels, to work together to find a solution to the delivery of good quality social care in rural areas and to stave off what will otherwise become a crisis situation. Those living in rural areas deserve better."