The UK government is considering the introduction of legislation to outlaw age discrimination in the provision of public services. The Department of Health commissioned a short piece of research to explore the extent of age discrimination in mental health services. Three broad issues are addressed in this report: inequalities between adult and older people’s mental health services; inequalities between adults and older people with mental health problems in their use of health and social care services;
and knowledge about the likely single equalities legislation in current services and the possible costs of implementation. The report does not examine differences in outcomes.