The number of people using council-arranged long-term adult social care in England grew in 2022-23 following years of decline, official data has shown.
Overall, 835,335 people received long-term care during last year, up 2.1% on 2021-22, when 817,995 people were received help a service, according to figures from NHS England.
This figure had declined year on year from a high of 872,520 in 2015-16, with the exception of 2020-21, where numbers may have been inflated by the inclusion of people receiving Covid-19 post-discharge provision.
There was also a 2.5% increase, from 613,510 to 629,050, in the numbers receiving long-term care at the end of 2022-23, halting a year on year decline in that figure since 2016-17.
The growth in numbers in 2022-23 came across all service settings – nursing homes, residential homes and community-based care – and among both people aged 65 and over and those aged 18-64.