KENT’s growing elderly population is creating a major funding crisis that has placed care for older people “teetering on the brink,” council chiefs have warned.

Kent County Council has joined dozens of other local authorities to warn the government that unless it has more money, thousands of pensioners will be forced to sell their homes and use savings to pay for care which in many cases ought to be met by the NHS.

Weekly care bills for older people being looked after in homes can be as much as £600 a week.

In a joint letter, the authorities say the funding shortfall is “unsustainable,” leaving care for adults “teetering on the brink.”

Councils like Kent are being forced to pick up the tab for looking after older people because they do not qualify for NHS care under a clampdown on eligibility rules.

Kent fears it could be hit much harder than many parts of the country. Over the next ten years, the population is predicted to grow faster than the rest of England.

The numbers of those over the age of 65 is expected to rise by 60,000, with the numbers of very elderly – over the age of 85 – rising by about 10,000, or ten per cent.

In Kent’s case, it is estimated that nearly one quarter of those receiving care in nursing homes should be having their costs met by the NHS. Instead, the county council is paying.

Cllr Paul Carter, Tory leader of KCC, said that equated to a £5million shortfall or an additional one per cent increase on the council tax.

“There is nothing rational, fair or equitable about the system at the moment. There is no appeals system in which people can challenge the decision of an NHS trust. But now the Government is trying to shift the boundary so that the NHS picks up a smaller tab.”

He added: “Those who are cut out of the NHS will come under our social services. They will be means-tested, and many will have to sell their homes to pay their own bills. Others will have no assets, so council tax payers will have to cover the bills.”

Despite being rated as among the third most deprived authorities, Kent received just £630 per person for adult care compared to £1,634 for the London borough of Islington.

Former KCC leader Lord Bruce-Lockhart raised the issue in a debate in the House of Lords.

He said: “Half the social service authorities in the country are reporting that they are raising eligibility criteria and so rationing care for the elderly. In a civilised society, that is unacceptable."

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is expected to publish the results of a consultation on who should have their care costs met by the NHS shortly.