Equality Bill

Paul Cann‚ Director of Policy and External Relations at Help the Aged‚ says:

“The promise to ban age discrimination in the Equality Bill is a huge step towards ensuring older people are treated as equals – in health services‚ the marketplace and throughout society.

“But to make fairness an everyday reality for older people‚ legislation must come into force without delay and there needs to be more urgency in the timetable for action.  When it comes to health and social care services in particular‚ legislation against ageism could literally mean the difference between life and death for some older people.”

Gordon Lishman‚ Director General of Age Concern‚ says:

“Fairness means ending the routine discrimination suffered by older people in so many areas of their lives. This landmark legislation sends a clear signal that ageism should be taken as seriously as any other form of discrimination and has no place in a fair society. It has the potential to transform the lives of millions of older people but MPs must speed up the timetable for implementation to ensure it comes into force during the lifetime of the current Parliament.”

Health Bill

Gordon Lishman‚ Director General of Age Concern‚ says:

“Older people are the main adult users of most NHS services but the NHS is not organised to meet their needs. The new NHS Constitution must be strengthened to provide a firm guarantee of the care older patients can expect by including stronger pledges to protect their human rights and deliver compassionate care that upholds their dignity. To protect older patients from the ageist attitudes and practices many currently experience‚ the Constitution must be amended to include the right not to suffer discrimination on the basis of age.”

Paul Cann‚ Director of Policy and External Relations at Help the Aged‚ says:

“To deliver consistent and decent quality healthcare for older people‚ dignity must be at the heart of the NHS Reform Bill.  On every occasion and in every health setting‚ older people should be alleviated from discomfort and pain‚ given help to make choices and treated as individuals not numbers. 

“All too often ageism rears its ugly head in health services – with older people being denied medical treatment or not being taken seriously because of their age.  The NHS Reform Bill must go hand in hand with the Equality Bill and a ban on age discrimination‚ to ensure older people are treated according to their symptoms and not their age.”

Welfare Reform Bill

Gordon Lishman‚ Director General of Age Concern‚ said:

“Unemployed people over 50 have the highest rates of long term unemployment so we support a stronger emphasis on getting them back into work. But this will only work if jobs are available and the right kind of support is on offer – this is not currently the case and sanctions to withdraw benefits should not be introduced until they are. These proposals must go hand in hand with a strategy to keep the over 50s in work in the first place as previous experience shows that they are likely to bear the brunt of job cuts in a recession.”

Local Democracy‚ Economic Development and Construction Bill

Paul Cann‚ Director of Policy and External Relations at Help the Aged‚ says:

“Older people routinely tell us that they feel ignored and undervalued by their local communities‚ so ensuring their voices are heard in their local communities is really important.  We need to see more than just lip-service or tokenism – to make sure all older people can take part‚ there will need to be services to support and encourage them to get involved.  There needs to be much more energy and determination to reach those who are seldom heard‚ for example isolated older people and those living in poverty.”