@HebrideanHecate @FeartnTired They were placed in so-called "sheltered" housing. I knew of a notorious one in Bristol in the 1990s. It only had a manager in an office for a couple of hours on weekday mornings, so for the rest of the time the residents fended for themselves.
(Some of them MIGHT have been with it enough to get visits from their social workers).

There were two suspicious deaths there over the Christmas period when no staff were on.
Local drug dealers knew exactly when the residents had their latest prescription drugs deliveries.
The caretaker lived in an adjoining flat, and was trading their prescription meds (including heavy duty depressants) in gay clubs, where they could be used during sex.
Nobody would shop him, because as a council worker he had the job for life, and was in a position of power over the residents - he could refuse to let them in or out, for example,
This is what "Care in the Community" looked like for those people.