Age Discrimination (Hansard, 3 April 2000)

§ Mr. Paul Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from organisations on age discrimination against elderly patients in the NHS. [117294]

§ Mr. Hutton
We have received from Age Concern their thoughtful report "Turning your back on us—Older people and the NHS" which highlighted concern that older people experience ageism within the National Health Service. I met representatives from Age Concern on 6 March to discuss these concerns. Age Concern, Help the Aged and others involved in the care of older people have all contributed to the development of the National Service Framework for Older People which will set
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national standards for the care of older people. This work covers issues of greatest concern to older people such as promotion of health and well-being, and fair access to services. We hope to publish the NSF later this year.

§ Mr. Paul Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will initiate an inquiry into age discrimination against elderly patients in the NHS. [117293]

§ Mr. Hutton
Discrimination on the grounds of age within the National Health Service is completely unacceptable. Action is and will be taken to challenge and correct any such unfair practices. The task now is to get on with ensuring this delivers the improvements we intend, so that eliminating discrimination and promoting fair access are firmly embedded as mainstream business for the NHS.
The provision of first class care on the NHS is our priority and later this year we will be publishing the National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People. This, for the first time, will set national standards for the care of older people, driving up quality and reducing the variations. The NSF will include performance measures for monitoring progress. The development of the NSF has involved many groups, including service users and carers, and has included the issue of access to services.
We have no plans however to set up any inquiry. Equal opportunities and work against discrimination must be embedded in our total way of working, rather than being treated as a separate and one-off activity.