Survey finds more than half of older people in Wales struggling with cost of living and healthcare

Nation.Cymru staff

Cost of living, declining physical health and a worrying rise in corridor care are the standout findings of Age Cymru’s annual survey of older people.

The seventh annual survey drew more than 1,400 responses from people across Wales, with the youngest respondents in their early fifties, and the eldest over one hundred years old.

It found that 52% had struggled with the cost of living in the last year, up from 46% in 2025, and from just 9% when the survey began in 2020. Fuel costs, water bills and council tax were the main drivers behind their concerns.

Physical health was the single most common challenge noted, affecting 53% of respondents. Half said they found it difficult to make a GP appointment and 23% of people were struggling to get to their hospital appointments.

For the first time the survey asked about corridor care – a worrying trend where people are receiving treatment in corridors, waiting rooms or temporary spaces that are not designed for patient care.

17% of respondents said they or a loved one had experienced corridor care in the past year, ranging from a few days to a few weeks being treated in an inappropriate space.

One person described a relative who was sat in a chair for four days in a corridor that was ‘packed with people being treated’. They said there was only one toilet for several dozen people and no washing facilities.

Another, whose loved one was at the end of their life, told the charity they waited 20 hours for an ambulance, then spent 18 hours outside in the ambulance and nearly a week in a bed in A&E, before eventually a bed being found on CDU – all while he was dying of prostate and lung cancer as well as end-stage heart failure.

There were positives from the report, loneliness was down to 16%, and people struggling with their mental health lowered to 20%, which is down from 26% the year before.

Core issues 

CEO of Age Cymru, Victoria Lloyd, said whilst the improvements were welcome news, we risked losing these gains if the core issues were not addressed.

Victoria said: “This snapshot is a striking picture of what older people are facing across Wales, and it’s perhaps no surprise that cost of living and physical health are at the top of their concerns.

“This was the first year we asked respondents about corridor care, and the results are a stark image of the difficulties facing some of the most vulnerable people during some of their most challenging times. Respondents often said that frontline staff were doing all they can, but that the facilities were simply struggling to cope with the number of people needing care.

“The fall in loneliness and improvements to mental health are real positives, and something that we as a charity have worked hard to advocate for, but there is a real risk of losing these gains if we don’t address the fundamental issues of cost of living and physical health.

“Two-fifths of respondents said they did not feel optimistic about the year ahead, which is the highest level of concern we’ve ever had, and right now it can feel hard to be positive. But there are things we can do.

“Prior to the recent Welsh Elections, we set out our agenda for the next Government; seven points addressing issues from tackling pensioner poverty through to access to healthcare. By investing in and exploring the organisations and the people who are working to make positive change, we can make a difference, we can move things forward, and we can help people live longer with better quality of life.”

You can read the full report on the Age Cymru website, at www.agecymru.wales, or to find out how to get a paper copy, call 0300 303 44 98.