A record number of over 65s are not getting the care they need, Age UK warns, as increasing numbers are “at far greater risk of not eating enough and of falling and hurting themselves”.

In a new report, entitled Health and Care of Older People in England 2019, the charity said that social care is at the point of “total collapse” while demand rises daily.

It also revealed that demand for care has reached a record high. According to the latest available figures, in 2018 a record 1.4million people aged 65 and over had unmet needs and were struggling to carry out basic daily living activities such as eating, bathing, getting dressed, using the toilet and getting in and out of bed.

In 2017 the figure was 1.2 million, which rose from 1.04 million in 2015. The data reveals that the record 2018 figure has more than doubled in four years, after just 900,000 over 65s were recorded as having unmet needs in 2014.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said: “If an older person needs social care but can’t get it this is a sure fire recipe for them to become weaker and less well.

“They are at far greater risk of not eating enough and of falling and hurting themselves because of trying to do more than they really should. And it goes without saying that their lives are likely to be diminished and made more miserable.