Thousands of requests for social care have been turned down by Surrey County Council in the last year with only 7,995 out of 35,565 requests for social care being successful according to the respected Leonard Cheshire charity.

The Charity has also shone a light on the declining number of people that Surrey has provided adult social care to in recent years. In 2009, Surrey County Council provided 31,095 people with social care but by 2014 it had reduced this number to 29,650.

These figures follow a joint statement released by The King’s Fund, Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation which has called on the government to address the funding crisis in adult social care. They point out the social care system is facing a £1.9 billion gap in its funding next year and that the government should urgently address this by providing more resources to councils.

Surrey Liberal Democrats continue to call for reform of social care funding and for the County Council to respond to the increasing demand for care services which has been rising steeply in recent years.

This failure to properly fund social care also put more pressure on the health service. It means that people have to stay in hospital when they are well enough to go home because the right care is not available. In turn that means delays in hospital treatment for others because of a lack of beds.