As we pass the winter solstice and the days start to lengthen, it feels hard to believe we will ever leave ‘winter’ in the NHS.

We should never lose sight that most older people live well in older age. However, we are also very familiar with the challenge of a population that is ageing with all the risks associated with co-morbidities and complex health and social care issues.

I recently had a very nice weekend away in Haworth, West Yorkshire. The literary aficionados among us will instantly be familiar with this, as it was the home of the Bronte sisters of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall fame.

Today, Saturday 1 October, is the UN’s International Day of Older Persons. Each year the UN takes a particular thematic focus: this year it is ‘The Resilience and Contributions of Older Women’.  It is an opportune moment to reflect on older women’s experience of healthcare.

This is the eighth blog in the BGS’s ‘Timely Discharge’ series. We aim to raise awareness of the detrimental effects on older people of being stuck in hospital when they are 'medically fit for discharge'. Our blog series explores the causes of delayed discharges, the knock-on effects to the wider health and social care system, and what needs to change.

This year’s theme for the International Day of Older Persons is digital equity for all ages. This is timely given the acceleration of the use of digital communications and services during the pandemic and the risks that some people, particularly older people, could be left behind.

HIV/AIDS taught us the importance of public sex education. Now, COVID-19 teaches us the need for public death education.

It is a commonly accepted principle that demand for healthcare always outstrips resources, and so in the UK’s publicly funded health system, it is important to look at how and where costs are being incurred to make sure we are making the best use of limited resources.

“Well, they’re obviously over-stretched and under-staffed, aren’t they?  It’s not personal care any more is it, you’re more like a number, they get you in and get you out.”

Ten have been whittled down to two and it is now for the membership of the Conservative Party to decide whether they want Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt as their next leader and, subsequently, the next Prime Minister. Much of the focus of this campaign has been on the future of the UK’s relationship with the European Union. Are we leaving on 31 October or not? Deal or no deal?

 While integrated care is being discussed, Lucy Lewis, consultant practitioner trainee specialising in frailty and older people at Health Education England (Wessex), gives some startling figures that reinforce the value of social care systems and the call for increased funding.

Titled “Investment and Evolution” and sporting the NHS flagship blue and white livery it made many bold statements. First up, the extortionate premiums in indemnity coverage that GPs face will end, thanks to state backed indemnity. Nice.

In recent weeks, the ITV drama Breathtaking has represented an important step forward in public discourse around the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s important as a moment for national reflection.

The UK is experiencing a cost of living crisis and older people are particularly vulnerable to the impact this has on their health. Age UK estimated that 1.1 million older households were in fuel poverty at the end of 2021. A year later and this figure has almost trebled. An estimated 8,500 people died last year in England and Wales as a result of living in cold homes.

This is the second blog in the BGS’s ‘Timely Discharge’ series. We aim to raise awareness of the detrimental effects on older people of being stuck in hospital when they are 'medically fit for discharge'. Our blog series explores the causes of delayed discharges, the knock-on effects to the wider health and social care system, and what needs to change.

This is the third blog in the BGS’s ‘Timely Discharge’ series. We aim to raise awareness of the detrimental effects on older people of being stuck in hospital when they are 'medically fit for discharge'. Our blog series explores the causes of delayed discharges, the knock-on effects to the wider health and social care system, and what needs to change.

This is the first blog in the BGS’s ‘Timely Discharge’ Blog Series which seeks to address the issue of older people getting stuck in hospital for want of care once they are discharged from a variety of perspectives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the worst period that many people have lived through. However, for health and social care, it has also led to some of the greatest innovation and transformation, demonstrating how partnership working across traditional systems and boundaries can truly be achieved when everything is being routed through one funding source.