WORRYING figures have revealed almost two in five adults receiving Council-funded social care in Bradford are forking out their own money to top up their support.

Charity Age UK has warned that older people are being left to watch in horror as their life savings are swallowed up by a care system "way past its sell-by date".

In an annual survey of adult social care users for 2018-19, 38 per cent of respondents in Bradford said they or their families buy additional care privately or pay more to the council to top up the care they receive , up from 35.4 per cent the previous year.

This included 28.8 per cent who paid extra from their own pocket, and 10.8 per cent who said a family member did so on their behalf.

Some respondents may have selected both options.

This would mean around 2,350 out of the 6,170 state-funded social care users in the area are topping up their care.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: "Too many older people and families are already struggling without the care they need, or watching with absolute horror as their lifetime savings disappear to fund sky-high care bills.

"We know that older people and their families are living in fear that they will be unable to keep up with the payments.

“With a care system under siege, this is a problem that needs solving."

Across England, a record 37.2 per cent of social care users now say they top-up their care – almost half of them people aged 65 and over who receive help in the community, such as home visits.

This is the highest rate since the survey began in 2010-11, and up by 0.5 per cent in just one year.

The figures only include people who are eligible for state-funded social care.

Unlike the NHS, social care in England is means-tested, and those with savings of more than £23,500 have to pay their own way.

Colin Angel, policy director at the UK Homecare Association, said councils may be rationing the care they will fund in order to reduce costs.

He said: “The increase in additional purchase seen this year is a trend that we anticipate continuing in the absence of a long-term funding solution from Government for social care in England.”

Ian Hudspeth, from the Local Government Association, said that rising costs and demand meant councils were having to make "incredibly difficult" decisions about people's care.

“While extra funding for social care next year is helpful, what we need is action and certainty to secure care and support for the long-term," he added.

Overall, 66.1 per cent of people in Bradford said they were either very or extremely satisfied with the care they received, above the national average of 64.3 per cent.

A further 25.5 per cent were quite satisfied, while 3.4 per cent were dissatisfied.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care recognised there was a "crisis" in social care.

He said: "We know the system is under pressure and we have given local authorities an extra £1.5 billion next year to meet rising demand and stabilise the social care system.

"We are determined to fix the crisis in social care and will set out our proposals in due course.”

A Bradford Council spokesperson said of the situation: “In Bradford we pay all providers a fee that covers the cost of their eligible care needs in line with the Care Act and in addition to this, the Care Act also allows for third parties to pay a ‘top-up’ for additional services over and above these needs and we refer to these as Personal Choice Contributions."

The spokesperson added: “Our contract with care homes requires them to be clear about what the additional contributions are for, and we have developed a leaflet for people and their families which clearly sets this out and is part of a wider discussion with the person, the family/ carer, the Social Worker and the care home provider.

“For people living in the community, the services that the Council funds to meet eligible care needs should not require people to pay additional top ups, however they may choose to purchase additional services on top of those which the Council is obliged to fund.”

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