How 3.5 pensioners with mental problems 'are betrayed by NHS'

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Scandalous treatment of elderly sufferers of depression and dementia is laid bare in a damning report today.

It paints a bleak picture of a forgotten generation given little or no help to cope with illnesses including Alzheimer's.

Vital care, such as counselling, is often withdrawn at the age of 65. Health problems that were once taken seriously are simply dismissed as part of ageing, the report said.

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Patient: Mick Fowell says services have been cut

Depression is rarely treated in pensioners and more than half of Alzheimer's cases go undiagnosed.

In all, more than 3.5million elderly men and women are denied adequate mental health care.

The report comes three days after the Alzheimer's Society lost its High Court battle for patients in the early stages of the disease to be prescribed life-transforming drugs that cost just £2.50 a day.

The UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Being in Later Life found that services are "inadequate in range, in quantity and in quality".

Dr June Crown, the independent inquiry's chairman, said: "Mental health problems in later life are not an inevitable part of ageing.

"They are often preventable and treatable and action to improve the lives of older people who have mental health problems is long overdue.

"Our report draws attention to groups of older people who are currently invisible, who have been denied the fair treatment that should be the hallmark of a civilised society."

The 124-page report was drawn up by experts from bodies including the London School of Economics and the Royal College of Nursing.

It said mental health policy is focused on those of working age, leaving the elderly with cheaper and often inferior care.

Treatment such as counselling, or access to specialist schizophrenia services, can be cancelled from a person's 65th birthday.

Ageism is rife, with "patronising and thoughtless" medics dismissing debilitating conditions.

The report warns: "Age discrimination in mental health persists.

"Progress is hampered by the defeatist assumption that mental health problems are a normal part of growing older and that there is no effective treatment.

"Ageism, stigma and other forms of discrimination combine to make older people with mental health problems invisible in policy, practice and research."

Only one in seven pensioners dementia receives treatment,the report said.

The four-year inquiry forecasts that our ageing population will see the number of pensioners with mental health problems grow by a third in the next 15 years.

The cost to the economy will be enormous, with lost work days and lost buying power adding up to almost £500 billion annually by 2021.

Gordon Lishman, of Age Concern, the charity that funded the inquiry, said: "Its findings are unequivocal - years of ignorance, discrimination and under-funding must be overturned."

The mental health charity Mind said the report highlights the "shameful neglect of older people who experience mental distress".

Conservative health spokesman Stephen O'Brien said: "Mental health services continues to be a Cinderella service under Labour with budgets being plundered to meet NHS deficits. Older people are bearing the brunt."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "Many older people are afraid to ask for help. Sadly, this shows that the right help isn't always there for them when they do.

"The challenge of providing services to our aging population is the greatest challenge facing the NHS in the 21st century."

Among the report's 35 recommendations are calls for more funding for mental health services, more support for sufferers and their carers and action on ageism.

The Daily Mail's Dignity for the Elderly campaign has consistently highlighted the plight of pensioners in hospitals and care homes. Abuses include underfeeding and physical and verbal cruelty and couples being separated to save money.

Health Minister Ivan Lewis said the Government had announced a national dementia strategy and was developing new guidelines for carers.

• Mick Fowell feels let down by the medical help he received when the breakdown of his marriage triggered depression.

The former contracts manager said that while his GP was quick to diagnose the condition 15 years ago, the follow-up mental health care was poor.

He found most of the psychiatrists were "trying to help but not really getting there". He then used a drop-in bus service designed to reach rural locations like his home village of Gimingham, Norfolk. It proved a 'lifeline' until it was axed last year.

"I shook the depression off after thinking, 'If they don't help me, I am going to have to help myself'," said the 69-year-old.

"The bus going was the final straw, but I have always been angry because I have seen the deterioration of mental health services on an almost daily basis."

 

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