Dr Ros Altmann Highlighting the great importance people over 50 place in the NHS, Dr Altmann said: "We are deeply concerned that a squeeze on the health budget over the next three years and management changes might adversely impact the quality of medical and domiciliary care for older people.
"Change cannot be allowed to reduce the quality of care provided for the elderly either in hospital or at home.
"We asked more than 14,000 over 50s about their experience of the NHS (August 2010) and a third said it had improved over the previous two years, while 44 per cent said their experience had been 'very good'. These advances in NHS provision cannot be lost.
"Key concerns for the over 50s are: waiting times; ease of access; the return of the 'postcode lottery', plus care and support at home. Older people are heavy users of NHS services. Waiting times to have surgery for cataracts, hip or knee replacements, for example, cannot be allowed to lengthen, leaving people incapacitated and in pain. We cannot return to waiting times of a year and more.
"We applaud the move to more joined-up thinking between health and local authority provision for services in the home, as we know that many older people want to stay in their own homes when they can no longer fully look after themselves. These services must not be cut.
"Local decision making could well lead to unequal provision of services, so that where you live dictates the level of provision available. This would be clearly unfair and unacceptable.
"Finally, with a growing elderly population, we must see more, better, flexible and imaginative services for those who need help at home, not less.
"Saga will be monitoring NHS and local authority provision very carefully over the coming months. We also want to see an improved NHS, including more choice and private sector involvement, when that puts the well-being of older people very high on the list of health priorities."
This article was published on January 18, 2011.