Community care for elderly people

BMJ 1998;317:552-553 ( 29 August )

Editorials

Community care for elderly people

Will improve only when there are national standards and explicit funding

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

For an elderly person discharged from hospital in Britain, gaining access to continuing health care is like queuing for acar parking place in a multistorey car park on a Saturday afternoon.A "one in, one out policy" operates; you can never be sure howlong you will have to wait; when you do get a place it is usuallyfurthest away from where you want to be; and, if you miscalculateyour length of stay against the amount paid, you will incur aheftyfine.

This picture will sound familiar to most community practitioners, but earlier this year the Clinical Standards Advisory Groupgave further credence to professional concerns and made explicitthe deficiencies in the community care of older people.¹ Itsreport, Community Health Care for Elderly People, used the careof people discharged from hospital after treatment for fracturedfemur as a tracer condition for identifying the . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Primary care arrangements for elderly people in residential and nursing homes: Shane Kavanagh and Martin Knapp
BMJ 1999 318: 666. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Kavanagh, S., Knapp, M. (1999). Primary care arrangements for elderly people in residential and nursing homes. BMJ 318: 666-666 [Full text]
Richards, T. (1998). Ageing costs. BMJ 317: 896-900 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Conformity or diversity?: Tim Blackman
bmj.com, 1 Sep 1998 [Full text]
Primary care arrangements for elderly people in residential and nursing homes: Shane Kavanagh
bmj.com, 23 Sep 1998 [Full text]