More than 2,000 elderly and ill people die while waiting for care at home: Worse cases saw patients waiting nine months for treatment : Daily Mail.

• 2,037 patients died before care visits could be arranged over the last three years
• Many likely to have had illnesses including cancer and motor neurone disease
• Delays occur as social care budgets have been slashed leaving many suffering 
• Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron described the delays as ‘utterly scandalous’

Thousands of seriously ill patients are dying while waiting for basic care at home, figures reveal.

In the past three years at least 2,037 adults died before care visits could be arranged in their homes.

Many are likely to have had illnesses such as terminal cancer, dementia or motor neurone disease which leave them housebound and dependent on help.

In the worst cases, vulnerable patients were waiting for nine months for care to be arranged before they died.

Many were forced to spend their final weeks in hospital as care that would have allowed them to die at home was never arranged.

Others may have passed away at home having become increasingly reliant on family members for basic daily tasks.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who obtained the data, said the delays were ‘utterly scandalous’ and exposed the human cost of the social care crisis.

‘Behind these figures are real people with real stories of desperation and misery that would break your heart,’ he said. ‘Imagine it was your mum or your son waiting months for the help they need to live their life.

‘It is unacceptable that some people face this indignity – this has to change.’

The delays have come about because council social care budgets have been progressively slashed and cannot meet the needs of the increasingly dependent population.

Read more : Daily Mail.

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