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Time for me to have a small rant, why are the elderly constantly blamed for the NHS troubles, it makes me so angry. We might live longer but as a group we are fitter than we have ever been. Are we blamed for the housing shortage because we are living longer taking up valuable homes, no we are not.
I had to go for my yearly check with the practice nurse and noted who was there waiting to see the doctor. There were four others and they were all a lot younger than me, one was foreign who used the interpreter the other three ranged from a young mother to a middle aged gentleman. I was the only oldie who was perfectly well but the system said I had to have that check up as I had not seen a doctor or nurse for well over a year.
I had a chat with my paramedic neighbour the other day about the abuse of A&E and the ambulance service. Again the elderly do not abuse the system, he would prefer us oldies to call an ambulance rather than wait until the last minute when we might be in serious trouble.
I agree we stay in hospital longer because there are not the resources out there. This is down to governments past and present who no longer provide the equivalent of convalescent homes, they used to cater for all ages who are not able to go home for various reasons. My daughter's partner was discharged from hospital far to early because they were so short of beds, this was eighteen months ago, he ended back in hospital for over two weeks, she had to take time off work to look after him.
Sorry for the rant but being old is not the cause of the NHS problems, dishing out money on non illness procedures does not help, neither does poor management at the top.