Home Truths: Older Londoners’ access to home care services

The experiences and concerns of older people accessing home care in London are documented in this Assembly report.

Older people in the capital told the Health and Public Services Committee that the process for assessments can be complicated, opaque and long-winded, leading to many people facing long delays. The report says more than 1,700 older people in London waited more than three months for an assessment and more than 1,500 faced delays of at least six weeks following a successful assessment to receive all their services.

In addition, older Londoners are more likely to need home care than older people elsewhere because they are more likely to live alone, in poverty, in poor health and without local family support. The report makes a number of recommendations to improve older people’s experience of the homecare system in the short-term:

• The Department of Health London Region should develop guidance on fast and effective assessment processes for people who want personal budgets
• The Mayor should promote preventative services that can plug the gap for people with lower care needs
• The Mayor should assess the feasibility of setting up a pan-London frontline information line for older Londoners.
• Submissions received during the investigation are available to view below.

Responses to the report

• Responses from the Mayor of London and the Department of Health are published below.