CARE home bed availability fell to less than ten beds for every 100 elderly people in Cheshire West and Chester at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Public Health England data shows there were 9.1 care homes beds per 100 people aged 75 and over in CWAC at the end of March, compared to 9.6 nationally.

The rate of available beds across the country was the lowest recorded since records began in 2011, and down slightly from 9.8 per 100 last year.

A CWAC spokesperson said: “Cheshire West and Chester Council is in the process of developing an older peoples’ accommodation strategy to ensure that our local care providers develop services which will continue to meet the needs of the local population.

“Currently we have an oversupply of some types of care home provision and we are working with local providers to redesign services to meet the constantly changing needs of older people. This includes considering alternatives to care home provision and ensuring that people are able to remain in their own homes for longer.”

The figures include beds in residential homes, which provide accommodation and help with things such as washing and dressing, and nursing homes, which are staffed by nurses and offer support to people with more complex needs.

Martin Green, chief executive of charity Care England, fears the long-term capacity of the system could be ‘severely depleted’ without further funding.

Mr Green added: “The unprecedented cost pressures leveraged by Covid-19 put the future of many care providers into question, especially when one considers the burdened nature of the care sector even prior to Covid-19.”

The group is calling for support such as the Infection Control Fund – a £600 million package announced in May to tackle the spread of the coronavirus in care homes – to be extended to help care providers get through the pandemic.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "The number of care home beds remains stable and care given at home is growing, with innovation and technology allowing people to live at home for longer.

“We know there is a need for a long-term solution for social care and are looking at a range of proposals as part of our commitment to bringing forward a plan that puts the sector on a sustainable footing for the future.”

The chances of an elderly person getting a care home bed differ significantly depending on where they live – while there were 17.8 beds per 100 over-75s in Middlesbrough, there were just 2.5 per 100 in Westminster.