Unmet needs for low‐level services Available to Purchase

This article draws on consultations with older people produced for a Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) study on the unmet need for low‐level services among older people in England. This was published in 2007 (Clough et al, 2007). Since it was published there have been significant changes to the social care scene. The Government has given further emphasis to individual budgets (now termed personal budgets), many local authorities have further restricted the criteria for eligibility to social care services, and publications such as Time to Care (CSCI, 2007) have highlighted the shortcomings of home care services, as well as their strengths and importance. We also know more about older people's views of health and social care services (Health Care Commission, Audit Commission and Commission for Social Care Inspection, 2006). In this article we set out to relate findings from our research to current realities.