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Less than 1 per cent of the older population are in hospital at any given time. But older people are stereotyped as a characterised by passivity, failing physical and mental health, and dependency.
This briefing paper looks at reports of older people being denied treatment or good-quality NHS care because of ageist attitudes.
Age Discrimination in Health and Social Care asks whether older people get access to health and social care as quickly as other patients, and whether they receive the same quality of care.
It finds that some services have operated explicit age restrictions with little justifiable clinical basis.