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Most doctors believe NHS services for older people are not good enough, according to a report out today.

A lack of stimulation in care homes means people lose their mental abilities too quickly while those with dementia suffer from a lack of support, it found.

More than 90 per cent of doctors surveyed by the British Medical Association (BMA) said not enough money was being spent on NHS care of the elderly.

And 85 per cent said they were concerned or very concerned about healthcare services for older people.

The biggest area of worry was the lack of services available in the community, with only 8 per cent feeling that activities provided in residential and care homes to maintain mental agility and physical exercise were adequate.

Yet almost nine out of 10 doctors said mental agility services were very important for overall patient health and well-being.

More than nine in 10 also rated physical exercise and social activities as very important.

More than two thirds (68 per cent) of doctors said staffing levels in residential and nursing homes were not appropriate while 78 per cent said this was a key priority that needed to be addressed.

The study also found that 62 per cent of doctors thought there were not enough services to support people with dementia, while only 34 per cent said older people had continuous access to podiatry services to look after their feet.

A total of 471 GPs, consultants and staff-grade doctors responded to the survey.

Dr Helena McKeown, a GP from Wiltshire and chair of the BMA's Committee on Community Care, said: "It's disgraceful that care services are so chronically under-funded.

"For example, cutbacks in my area meant I heard of elderly patients having their bathing reduced from twice a week to once a week, something which they found very distressing and dehumanising.

"We no longer have an attached social worker, a community physiotherapist or a dedicated community psychiatric nurse so it's very difficult to give our patients the sort of joined-up care they need.

"People deserve to have an old age that is fulfilling and dignified. At the moment I don't feel a lot of them are getting that."

The survey also found that 83 per cent of doctors do not believe there are adequate respite facilities to support carers.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA, said: "Carers do an incredibly important but undervalued job which can often have an adverse affect on their own health.

"So it's sad to see how widespread a problem this is, particularly in conjunction with the worrying findings in the survey about the level of services available for elderly patients."

Charlotte Potter, senior health policy officer at Help the Aged, said: "While this survey is deeply disappointing, the results will not come as a surprise to older NHS patients.

"The Department of Health has already acknowledged that there are deep-rooted negative attitudes and behaviours towards older people and these are at the heart of failure to provide decent services for them.

"Ageism manifests itself in a lack of appropriate funding and specialist services for older people, which results in many services failing to meet their needs and provide adequate quality of health care."

Alex Mair, chief executive of the British Geriatrics Society, said: "The British Geriatrics Society is saddened, but not surprised, at the findings from the BMA survey.

"Geriatricians are at the forefront of providing services for the frail, older patient and have seen their departments and rehabilitation wards closed at the expense of target driven, disease specific conditions.

"Inappropriate discharge into the residential and care home sector is not the correct answer, as the survey clearly shows that support services are well below what should be expected to deliver timely and dignified care."

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: "The current healthcare system is routinely failing older people.

"It is simply not geared up to the needs of an ageing population. Older people are the main users of the health services but neither the provision of services nor the education and training of professionals recognises this fact.

"The culture of the NHS needs to change to put older people's needs at the heart of what it does."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the Government unveiled a package of measures in March, including looking at amending the Health and Social Care Bill and launching the biggest ever study into the risk of abuse in care homes and the infringement of older people's dignity on NHS wards.

"This GBP2 million study will help to inform our national campaign to put respect for dignity at the heart of all care services for older people,"

she said.

8:39am Monday 12th May 2008

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