Health Report: Too old for health care?
There are more over-65s in the UK than ever before, and many need medical treatment. But is our NHS up to the job? LEAH HARDY exposes the hidden negligence and discrimination suffered by elderly patients, and asks how it can be cured
With Christmas 2007 approaching, Mike Weston was looking forward
to seeing his mother, Florence, who was planning to spend the
holiday with his family. Florence, 85, had survived a heart attack
four years earlier but, despite this, the spirited
octogenarian was happily
living independently. But on 17 December, Florence fell at home,
breaking her hip.
"At first I wasn't too concerned," says Mike.
"She was swiftly taken
to Russells Hall Hospital in the
West Midlands where she'd been treated for her heart problems.
We hoped everything would be fine. But sadly, that wasn't the
case."
A near seven-hour wait for a bed turned into an agonising five-day
wait for surgery, as other cases kept taking priority. Throughout
the wait, Florence was starved, hydrated only by a drip. In the
end, Florence never did spend Christmas with her son. Instead, just
16 days after her fall, she had died - due, Mike is convinced, to
the inadequate treatment she received.
"I feel sure she would have been treated differently if
she'd been younger," he says. "I've now
researched this area and a sense of urgency is vital. If operated
on within 48 hours, patients have a much better chance of a full
recovery and regaining full mobility. I strongly suspect the
doctors thought that, at her age, with her history of heart
problems, my mother wouldn't survive. They didn't see her
as the independent and active person she was."
Around 20 per cent of the 78,000 hip fracture victims each year who
are over 60 have to wait over two days for treatment, which could
increase the likelihood of impaired health, and even death.
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