![image: [ Geriatric beds have been halved in 20 years, the report says ]](/olmedia/70000/images/_73765_beds.jpg)
The Counsel and Care charity says pensioners are being discharged too early from hospitals into residential homes which cannot cope with their medical needs.
As a result GPs are having to cope with more and more demanding geriatric problems, according to the charity.
Counsel and Care adds that in the last 20 years the number of geriatric beds in National Health Service hospitals has been halved.
More elderly in homes
At the same time the number of pensioners living in residential homes has risen dramatically.
The report says many homes are now providing nursing care for patients who, in the past would have remained in hospital, including some who are bedridden.
But the homes are not providing the correct medical care, leaving GPs to cope with more and more complex cases.
The charity surveyed 140 homes and interviewed residents before concluding there is a culture within the NHS that the old are a burden on a health care funding.
It says the NHS perceives pensioners as bed-blockers who prevent higher priority cases from receiving treatment.
The study makes 40 recommendations including improving inspections of homes and the better use of physiotherapy and occupational therapists.
The Department of Health said it always takes seriously any allegations about a deterioration in the standard of care in hospitals and it would be considering the report.
A long and unhappy retirement?
(29 Jan 98 | UK)
Care for OAPs under review
(04 Dec 97 | UK)
Department of Health
Age Concern
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