Cuts to long-term care funding could lead to a shortfall of almost 100,000 care home beds over the next ten years, according to a new study.
The Bupa report suggests this reduction will lead to a bed-blocking crisis for the NHS, and a postcode lottery for aged care as shortages emerge across the country.
It reveals that real-term spending cuts to care will reduce the number of care home beds by 81,000 over the coming decade while at the same time our ageing population is likely to see an additional 18,000 older people needing care.
These two factors, it said, could result in almost 100,000 older people being left at home or admitted to hospitals - potentially occupying half of the NHS's beds.
The provider has called for "the £2bn government funding ear-marked for adult social care to be ring-fenced and spent on the purpose for which it was intended - caring for frail, older people.
"There is real concern that hard-pressed councils may direct the money to plug holes in other budgets," it added.
Baroness Greengross, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia and chief executive of International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK), gave the call her backing.
"This is a striking read," she said.
"Council leaders across the country must make a public pledge to pass on in full the £2bn allocated to them by government to fund adult social care and to take account of care home inflation when setting their fees."
Mark Ellerby, managing director of Bupa Care Services, added: "The scale of the problem is much bigger than we thought.
"Unless councils protect funding for the elderly, thousands of vulnerable, frail older people will be unable to get care home places they need and will have to go into hospital.
"Not only is this deeply concerning for them and their families, but it is also worrying for the already stretched NHS as it will create a bed blocking crisis which will affect us all," he concluded.
