High-quality elderly care needs to be extended across Scotland

The Quality Improvement Scotland study said the health service has adapted too slowly to the needs of the nation's growing elderly population.

But it said there was evidence of more focused attention on the needs of the elderly and this needed to be built upon.

It also said home care for the elderly was too often limited to just five days a week and needed to extended.

Wrong turns

All trusts are now working on developing and improving services for older people.

The review found the physical care offered to older patients admitted to hospital is good but, once in hospital, their journey of care can sometimes go wrong.

Patients can find they are moved from ward to ward to make room for other patients and can suffer from having their discharge delayed.

The report said this highlighted the importance of preventing avoidable admissions, particularly for frail people.

The inspectors behind the study said services were uneven throughout Scotland but improvement could be achieved by building on the examples of good care they found.

Multi-agency teams which provide help for people at home and prevent the need for admission to hospital were praised for the "tremendous improvements" they have brought to home care for the elderly.

But the report said their work would be far more effective if it was available seven days a week.

It recommended a further review takes place with the aim of making such service more available and flexible.

Focus of attention

Consultant geriatrician, Dr Colin Currie, who chaired the project group, said: "We found evidence in many areas of high quality care and more focused attention on the needs of older people.

"This is very much to be welcomed and needs to be built upon.

"However, there is still much variation across the country, and what we have to do now is extend the best of what the NHS does to the rest of the NHS."

The chairman of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Lord Naren Patel added: "Care of older people accounts for 40% of the health service budget and it is important services meet their needs.

"This report details many examples of good practice but it also shows there is too much variability in the quality of services across the country.