Over 50s 'not given basic NHS care'

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Experts found shortfalls in the quality of care offered by the NHS and private providers to patients with conditions like osteoarthritis, incontinence and osteoporosis.

But they found that doctors paid particular attention to conditions where assessments earned them extra money, including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Dr Nick Steel, senior lecturer in primary care at the University of East Anglia, who led the study, said: "One of the conditions that came out worst was osteoarthritis, where we asked people if they'd received basic advice such as doing exercises to control the condition, and whether they had effective pain relief.

"At the more severe end of the scale, for those with severe osteoarthritis, we asked if they had been given the opportunity to see a specialist to talk about joint replacement.

"There were also issues around whether elderly patients had been asked the reason for their falls. These types of areas did not fare so well in the study."

The research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that the quality of healthcare for people with common health conditions "varied substantially by condition".

Scores on the quality of care ranged from 83% for heart disease to 29% for osteoarthritis.

Overall, only 62% of the care recommended for people aged 50 and over is actually received in England, the research found.

The study, which involved 8,688 people, examined 13 different health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, depression and osteoarthritis.