Background
The Wanless review provides a comprehensive analysis of the demand for social care. For the first time, we have estimates for spending requirements over the next 20 years based on a detailed examination of the factors affecting demand and how improvements in outcomes can be achieved cost-effectively. Importantly, the review also considered whether there is a fairer and more cost-effective way of funding social care than the current means-tested system.

The British Geriatrics Society welcomes the publication of the Wanless Review of social care and the acknowledgement of the importance of the needs of the frail older population. The Society would add that any future models of social care should ensure that all people receive a comprehensive assessment of their needs. These are shown to improve many aspects of well being including physical function, quality of life, cognition and reduction of short term mortality, as well as reducing admissions to care homes.

The British Geriatrics Society is the only professional association, in the United Kingdom , for doctors practising geriatric medicine. The 2,300 members worldwide are consultants in geriatric medicine, the psychiatry of old age, public health medicine, general practitioners and scientists engaged in the research of age-related disease. The Society offers specialist medical expertise in the whole range of health care needs of older people, from acute hospital care to high quality long-term care in the community.

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