YORK faces a "ticking timebomb" over care for its care for older people, due to rising demand and falling funding, the city was warned today.

Councillors have been advised to change the way services are provided in the city in the long-term, or else pay an extra £7 million a year by 2020.

Local pensioners' lobby groups condemned the Government, claiming it was failing to adequately fund care services, as it was revealed the number of over-65s in York was set to soar by nearly a third within 15 years.

By 2020, York will have 9,540 more over-65s than at present, including 4,644 over-75s, according to a report to City of York Council's housing and adult social services panel.

The report, which advises councillors to embark on a long-term programme to reshape services, also says the city will have a further 700 dementia sufferers, and 6,000 people with physical and sensory disabilities by then.

Don Parlabean, chairman of the York Older People's Assembly, said he sympathised with the council over the situation, and blamed the Government for the impending funding problems.

He said: "What we are frightened of is that so many people are going to be held back. Pensioners do not go screaming to their doctor every five minutes.

"They say I'm going to have to wait my time, there are worse people off than me'. But they will wait too long and we will end up burying them, and the PCT will bury the problems.

"The only way it is going to be solved is for the Government to put some money to it. We are only talking millions. They took billions to go to war, and to stick a new warhead on a rocket, but when it comes to health and a few millions, they do not want to know. They will have to rethink.

"It's a ticking timebomb and we are terrified of what's going to happen."

Linda Tester, of Older Citizens Advocacy York, said she was "delighted" the council was looking at a long-term approach, but said she feared for the future.

She said: "It's worrying enough now that resources do not seem to be stretching far enough. How that's going to impact on services like us, I shudder to think."

Ms Tester said she would not mind services being provided by other organisations, so long as they remained of a high standard.

James Player, of Age Concern York, said health bosses, politicians and groups such as his own had to work together, but acknowledged they had perhaps not done so sufficiently in the past.

He said authorities often had to go firefighting at present, rather than thinking far enough ahead.

Council facing challenges

BILL HODSON, director of housing and adult social services at City of York Council, said meeting rising care demand was a national as well as a local challenge.

He said: "We need to be planning now to meet the needs of people in the next 15 to 20 years.

"Doing nothing and providing services in the same way that we do now is simply not an option for the future because of the growing numbers of older people and an increasing expectation that we should be able to remain in our own homes as long as possible."

He said it was important to work with the council's partners to encourage healthy lifestyles, through sensible eating and exercise.

Mr Hodson said a draft strategy had been developed and that proposals would be subject to consultation with older people and stakeholders, such as voluntary groups.

He said the strategy aimed to make funding go further by:

  • Reducing use of hospital beds, with more care provided closer to home
  • Providing more choices for supported housing to reduce the need for residential care
  • Providing more community based mental health care and support
  • Using technology to provide more independence and safety and to allow homes for the elderly to focus on personal care needs
  • Providing more support to Mr Hodson said the strategy did not propose cuts or changes to providers, but said the next stage of the process would be to propose more detailed plans for reshaping services, in which it was "likely" some services would change.

He said raising council tax demands was only one way in which increasing costs could be generated, and that discussions were also under way between central and local government about how rising costs should be funded.

He said: "The levels of Government grant to local authorities will need to be considered, alongside an understanding of the ability of individuals to fund their own care."

Mr Hodson said the strategy alone would not solve the problem, adding that health improvement and public awareness problems were also critical.

He added: "If we do not start to change services to encourage and support these healthier choices and ensure that there are choices available that will help maintain independence then this really is a timebomb."