"Care gap" leaving millions without support, new report reveals

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 27th Nov 2006

Britain's social care system is creating a "care gap" that is leaving millions of people with no control over their lives, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) said today. The situation is set to worsen, the DRC cautions, as the gap between those needing support and those actually receiving it widens.

In its new report, Independence Day, the DRC says the failings of the current system mean that:

· Many disabled people and people with long-term health conditions are without support enabling them to get out of bed, use the toilet or eat. Many cannot leave their homes to visit friends or family;

· More than a million disabled people and people with long-term health conditions are living in unsuitable housing;

· 320,000 people are living in residential care homes, many against their wishes, with no right or power to fight local authority decisions placing them there;

· A further 9,000 young adults are inappropriately housed.

Independence Day details the lives of real people, demonstrating the shortcomings of the current social care system and how their lives could be transformed if a Private Member's Bill introduced by Lord Ashley to reform social care became law.

Commenting on the need to transform social care to ensure independence and choice for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, Greg Mulholland MP said:

"The failure to provide proper social care is especially concerning because it impacts upon some of the most vulnerable members of society. I welcome this report by the DRC which demonstrates how much more government needs to do to ensure the dignity and independence of those with disabilities.

"I know from having assisted members of my constituency in their struggle to gain access to decent levels of care just how unfriendly and bureaucratic the system can be. It is simply unacceptable; the system should exist to serve those in need, not to cause further difficulty and distress."

Also commenting on the need for changes to the current system, Bert Massie , DRC Chairman, said:

"Our social care system is tilted in the wrong direction, keeping many people in a state of suspended animation and allocating scarce resources in the wrong way. It needs to be transformed so that its endgame is to provide real opportunities for people to live independently and to be active, visible citizens rather than the passive recipients of what others deem best.

"Lord Ashley's Private Member's Bill seeks to bring into effect the recommendations of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit announced more than 18 months ago and create a social care system to meet the needs of disabled people and reflect what they and the rest of the public clearly want."