THOUSANDS of older people are being left stranded without personal care because cash-strapped councils are delaying treatment to save money, a charity has claimed.

In the worst case identified by Age Scotland, a pensioner was forced to wait almost two years for their care following an initial assessment.

The charity claims its investigation lays bare the scale of the issue, with 4,000 elderly people requiring nursing and other personal care waiting longer than six weeks for treatments, while in some areas it can take several months.

Over the last three years, there have been more than 8,600 cases where people have waited six weeks or more for arrangements to be made for their care – all in breach of national guidelines.

Councils are not obliged to record why delays have occurred, although some told the charity that individual circumstances may lead to longer waits. Staff shortages, financial constraints and delays adapting people’s homes were also cited for prolonged waiting times.

But Age Scotland’s senior policy officer Derek Young insists local authorities are deliberately making people wait because budgets are under intense pressure.

“Delays appear to be the main way in which councils try to manage the limits on their resources and the continuing demand,” he said.

“Some people have been told directly that the free personal care they’re entitled to receive cannot be paid to them because the council has simply run out of money.”

Some arrange their own paid-for care and end up out of pocket because payments are not backdated, but most cannot afford this option and instead rely on family and friends to get by, Age Scotland claims.

Free personal and nursing care has been a flagship policy of successive Scottish Governments, providing older people, who have been assessed as needing services such as bathing, washing and dressing and nursing care with financial support.

According to national eligibility rules, older people should receive care services within six week s of being assessed, but replies received from 25 local authorities showed one in 20 applicants faces a longer wait, which equates to around 3,940 people across Scotland.

Applicants in both Midlothian and Aberdeenshire have suffered seven-and-a-half month delays, while Aberdeenshire Council also admitted that in one case an older person had waited 575 days, or more than 18 months, for care.

Three-quarters of councils reported delays of more than six weeks in at least one case.

The survey shows the average time to conduct an assessment is two-and-a-half weeks.

In a report into the crisis, Age Scotland said its helpline had been inundated with calls about delays to care.

“We heard increasing numbers of accounts from members of the public of difficulties they were experiencing with accessing care, when legislation and guidance suggested they should be entitled to it,” it said.

Delays to providing social care could lead to people trying to do more for themselves, raising the risk of falls. or other accidents.

If this results in the need for hospital treatment, the cost to the public purse will rise sharply compared to a patient being looked after in a care home. The report concludes: “Delays in payments can make the obligation to free personal care a theoretical rather than a realistic entitlement”.

Age Scotland chief executive Keith Keith Robson said: “These are deeply concerning figures showing thousands of older people facing delays in the care provision they need being put in place. It also means payments for free personal care they are entitled to not being received.”

He said candidates for local elections should be ready to ensure high quality health and social care services are a top priority after May’s elections. “Free personal care has been one of the landmark policy initiatives in Scotland following devolution and that is why we are calling on all levels of government to ensure the system works as it was intended.”

A survey of the public carried out for Age Scotland at the same time supported calls for more investment in health and social care, Mr Robson said.

The YouGov poll found 73 per cent of people do not believe society values or invests enough in social care and only 17 per cent of people believe public services will be able to look after their care needs when they are older “This shows the levels of concern which exist around current provision of care services,” Mr Robson said. “We want everyone in Scotland to be confident they will receive high quality care when they need it in later life.”

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) declined to comment.

However a senior local government source said it was likely that some councils were using artificial delays to manage demand.

“There is an issue here,” he said. “There are real pressures in the system. and problems with the funding. Quite simply, demand is exceeding the ability of councils to pay for free personal care,” he added.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Free personal care benefits around 77,000 older, vulnerable people in Scotland and the Age Scotland figures show that 95% are receiving payments within six weeks. No one should have to wait longer than necessary to receive their care package and will continue to work hard with councils to make provision even better.

“We have taken action to protect and grow our social care services. This year there will be almost half a billion pounds of NHS investment in social care and integration. We want older people to be able to stay at home or in a homely setting within their own communities for as long as possible, and free personal and nursing care is ensuring that we can offer older people the support they need to make this a reality.”