Services for older people are improving

The government says good progress is being made to meet the standards care set out in the 2001 older people's National Service Framework.

But services must continue to improve to meet the needs of an increasingly aging population, it acknowledged.

Critics said targets had been key missed and immediate action was needed.

Still more needs to be done if we are to build services that will treat older people with the dignity and respect they deserve Health Secretary John Reid

One of the challenges highlighted was supporting elderly discharged from hospital.

Last month, the Commission for Social Care Inspection found older people were rushed out of hospital and into nursing homes to free up beds, in spite of their needs and wishes.

But the government's report says significant headway has been made in preventing age discrimination.

Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said: "People are no longer stuck in hospital for weeks after an operation and this means that their quality of life is being improved.

"The challenge for the future is to make sure services enable older people to stay safe and well at home."

Progress

Health Secretary John Reid said: "Older people are living proof that the NHS is a wellness service not just a sickness service.

"Age discrimination is being rooted out of health and social care services.

"Services have improved, but still more needs to be done if we are to build services that will treat older people with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Professor Ian Philp, National Clinical Director for Older People's Health, said: "England is leading other developed countries in terms of reducing delayed discharge and by investing in community services.

"Services for people with old age related conditions such as stroke and falls and fractures, are moving from being third class to world class and older people are taking advantage of new opportunities to look after their health.

"Ours is an ageing society. Over the next few years I expect older people and their families to have increasingly positive expectations for good health in old age.

"This means older people having greater control over their services as well as taking more responsibility for looking after their own health."

Living longer

Life expectancy has increased so that men reaching 65 in 2002 can expect to live for another 16 years compared to 14.6 years in 1993.

Women reaching 65 in 2002 can expect to live for another 19 years compared to just over 18 years in 1993.

One prominent research predicts some human beings alive today will live to the age of 150.

We must not be complacent, and shy away from the challenges ahead Jonathan Ellis of Help the Aged

Rodney Bickerstaffe, president of the National Pensioners Convention, said: "This progress report shows the commitment NHS and social care staff have to providing high quality services for older people.

Jonathan Ellis of Help the Aged said: "In a number of key areas, such as falls prevention and tackling age discrimination, the NHS, Councils, and frontline professionals, have begun to make tangible improvements in the care and support offered to older people.

"However, we must not be complacent, and shy away from the challenges ahead.

"Areas such as mental health and quality care at the end of life remain 'Cinderella' services for older people and are in desperate need of attention."

Gordon Lishman of Age Concern said: "Older people want the same things from life as everyone else, and social care has to move away from the assumption that the need to take part in society and to live an active and fulfilling life ends at the age of 65."

Sandra Gidley MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for older people, said: "This is damning evidence of the government's failure to provide for the health and social care needs of Britain's vulnerable elderly.

"The benchmarks have been spectacularly missed. More than one in six PCTs have failed to meet any of the four April 2004 milestones for the improvement of stroke services, and a further one in six have met just one.

"Action needs to be taken to give older people the rights and equality they deserve."

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "The government�s claim that they provide world class services for older people is all talk.

"Numbers of care home placements continue to fall; the number of households receiving domiciliary care has reduced by almost 10 per cent since 2000 and additional capacity in community nursing has not developed."