§ Ms AthertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to address barriers to effective implementation of Government policy on age discrimination; [28837]
(2) if he will implement the recommendations in the King's Fund report on anti-age discrimination policies; [28836]
(3) what recent assessment he has made of the extent of ageism in the health and social services. [28835]
§ Jacqui SmithThe National Service Framework for Older People, published in March 2001, sets the elimination of age discrimination in accessing national health service or social care as a priority. To help achieve this, it provides a programme of actions and milestones to be achieved over the next 10 years. Much work has already been undertaken that will underpin the development of this programme. This includes
Older people and their representative organisations have been included within the national service framework's national and local implementation structure, giving them a voice in prioritising and planning.Detailed guidance on the development of a single assessment process across health and social care, that focuses on identifying and meeting the needs of each individual, was issued for consultation on 16 August 2001, and the final version will be published shortly.Audits of age-related policy in the NHS, as required by the NSF October 2001 milestone have been undertaken. Detailed information on the audits has been provided by over three-quarters of the NHS organisations involved. An initial analysis of returns on the audits undertaken in the NHS shows that age discrimination is not endemic in the health service's written policies, but rather reflects the varying local development of 143W policy and practice. The audit provides for the development of local plans to review and tackle any age-discriminatory written policies found by April 2002 and will inform the development of a national approach to benchmark a range of services or treatments important in the care of older people.Detailed guidance on Fair Access to Care Services, covering a full review of adult social care eligibility criteria, was issued for consultation on 20 July 2001, and the final version will be published shortly.The detail and recommendations of the King's Fund report, "Old habits Die Hard—Tackling age discrimination in health and social care" is a welcomed addition to our knowledge of age discrimination in health and social care.