It's your age...

What do health and social care organisations need to do to ensure that people who use their services are not discriminated against because of their age? The government asked Sir Ian Carruthers, Chief Executive of NHS South West, and Jan Ormondroyd, Chief Executive of Bristol City Council, to review this issue, so that the industry will be ready to comply with the public sector requirements in the Equality Bill, currently working its way through Parliament. Significant recommendations include: research on the upper age limit in breast cancer screening and the use of QALY (Quality Adjusted Life Years) in decision making. There will be consultation on the report's recommendations in December.