BMJ  2006;332:1166-1168 (20 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.38835.669850.47 (published 5 May 2006)

Editorial

Decent health care for older people

Good, respectful NHS care for older people is still too patchy

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

Our population is ageing. The need to pay for decent care for older people becomes more pressing, and last month's Wanless report recommended how to provide long term care fairly.¹ But what is decent care? The national standards for the health, treatment, and social care of older people in England—set in 2001 in the national service framework (NSF) for older people—provide a good grounding. Last week the UK national director for older people, Professor Ian Philp, presented the next steps for the framework in the report A New Ambition for Old Age, which examined how the framework is being implemented and announced new aims and targets.²

The national service framework for older people set out eight standards to improve the experiences of older people and their carers who are using health, social care, and other services (box 1). A standard on medicines management followed later. Last week's report . . . [Full text of this article]

Care still not integrated

Mental health and complex needs

St Mary's Hospital, London W2 1NY
(Jacqeline.Morris@ukgateway.net)

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead NE9 6SX

Institute of Health Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG1 5AN

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• Manthorpe, J., Clough, R., Cornes, M., Bright, L., Moriarty, J., Iliffe, S., OPRSI (Older People Researching Social Issues), (2007). Four years on: The impact of the National Service Framework for Older People on the experiences, expectations and views of older people. Age Ageing 36: 501-507 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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