Investment in preventive social care services more than pays for itself in savings to the NHS, according to a final evaluation report of the Partnerships for Older People Projects (Popps). The report states that for every £1 spent on social care to support elderly people, hospitals save £1.20 in spending on emergency beds.

The evaluation was taken by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) and was made up of 146 separate schemes run across 29 English local authority areas from 2006-2009. Two thirds of the schemes were aimed at reducing social isolation and exclusion or promoting healthy living among the elderly, the remainder was directed specifically at avoiding hospital admission or facilitating early discharge.

The schemes helped to support 246,000 people with an average age of 75. They did this by doing things like fitting handrails, to establishing active living centres - such measures helped reduce overnight hospital stays by around 47 per cent. A&E departments saw a 29 per cent decrease, as did out-patient appointments by 11 per cent.

Health secretary Andy Burnham said at the launch of the research evidence, that it made "a powerful and persuasive argument for putting prevention first, not first out the door." He continued, "We have to reduce spending in the hospital sector and we have to cut emergency admissions, because the figures are just not sustainable."