Pressure on frontline staff and unequal access to services are obstructing older people from receiving the care they need, a new report from Age UK finds.
Today (September 26th) Age UK published their annual State of Health and Care of Older People report. To say it’s findings are bleak would be an understatement.
The charity found that healthy life expectancy at 65 has fallen to 11.2 years for women and 10.1 for men. What’s more, individuals living in more deprived areas were discovered to experience shorter periods of health compared to those in wealthier communities.
News of the report comes as demand for health and social care rises, but services struggle to keep pace. The charity outlined older people remain the biggest users of the NHS, yet the number of GPs has not grown in line with the ageing population, and fewer people now receive social care than ten years ago. The majority of older people also reported long delays in accessing help or not being able to receive it at all.
One area that the charity said needs serious attention is mental health support. According to the report, two thirds of people aged between 65 and 74 who struggle with anxiety or depression are not receiving treatment. As such, the statistic climbs to almost four in five among those aged over 75.
Access to dental care was also found to be a problem area. In 2025, 16% of over-65s said they had been unable to get a dentist appointment in the previous two years. One in four said they waited too long for a GP appointment.
‘The uncomfortable truth [is] that at present, many older people are not able to get the high-quality healthcare and social care support they need – and they do not have time on their side,’ Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said. ‘Against this context it’s not surprising that satisfaction levels are sharply dow and there’s a trend towards more ‘going private’ if they can afford it.
‘Sadly, the result is that inequalities are growing and those who are least advantaged are being left further behind. The starkest evidence of this are gaps in healthy life expectancy the scale of which shame us as a nation.’
Against this backdrop, Age UK are calling on the government to urgently improve community care, better support unpaid carers and ensure older people are a priority within the NHS.
Caroline continued: ‘If we’re to transform the NHS and make it more effective then older people must be an explicit priority for the new Neighbourhood Health Service, because they are occupying the great majority of hospital beds when in many cases it would be better for them to stay at home with good treatment and support. This must include the right social care as well as health support, so ensuring social care if fully part of Neighbourhood Health is crucial.
‘Local voluntary organisations such as our local Age UKs must be full brought in too; they are invaluable local assets that do important things the NHS and social care can’t, like help people who are lonely or who have housing issues – problems that when unaddressed accelerate health and care needs.’
The report can be read in full here.
Photo by Mario Heller via UnSplash
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