Dispatches

Missed visits, not being washed or dressed for days, waiting hours for your dinner and mistakes made with medication. Many older people in this country are facing serious problems with their home care. For Dispatches, Jackie Long investigates the fate of some of Britain's most vulnerable pensioners, who rely on council-funded home care. Working as a frontline carer, an undercover reporter discovers an overstretched service, concerns about pay not meeting the minimum wage and workers cutting short appointments and falsifying log books. Dispatches sets up hidden cameras in one pensioner's home to find out more about the standard of care she receives. The introduction of the living wage means care costs could soar, at the same time as care budgets have been slashed. The industry body, representing care companies, now warns that the market is increasingly unviable.