BMJ  2005;331:320 (6 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.38524.543137.7C (published 1 July 2005)

Commentary

Intermediate care: policy before evidence

¹ Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff CF14 4XL njvetter@hotmail.com

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

Intermediate care had the characteristics of much new national policy when it was launched; it lacked definition, had no evidence for its effectiveness, and was aimed at solving a problem that it was unlikely to impact on—in this case overcrowding in hospitals. It is therefore good to see new evidence on the effectiveness of a service that fits under the umbrella term "intermediate care" compared with care in a district general hospital department for the care of elderly people, as reported by Green et al.¹

The relation between older people and hospitals is a complex one. A suspicion among several eminent commentators is that ageism is still endemic in the NHS, keeping older people out of the bright sparkling general hospitals because they overstay their welcome.² A further suspicion is that the National Service Framework for older people is complicit in this, with its emphasis on an extra 5000 intermediate . . . [Full text of this article]

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