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Older
people’s lives will continue to be under threat because of ageism,
unless the Government acts to ensure age discrimination is prohibited
by upcoming legislation, according to a new report from Age Concern.
The
failure of public authorities to outlaw discrimination means that older
people are all too often denied life-saving treatment, discouraged from
accessing vital health tests and denied transforming health and social
care and mental health services. In-built discriminatory regulations,
unfair practices and ageist attitudes all combine to mean older people
– the primary users of health and social care – often receive inferior
care and unequal public services.
“Age of equality?
Outlawing age discrimination beyond the work place” is published ahead
of the Government’s Discrimination Law Review, which is due later this
month. The Review will publish recommendations for the Single
Equalities Act, which aims to bring together the existing legislation
on protection against discrimination – and Age Concern is calling for
it to include greater protection for older people.
The
Age Concern report outlines the potential importance and impact of age
discrimination protection – especially for the most vulnerable older
people. It calls for public authorities, such as local and national
government and the NHS, to be placed under a legal duty to promote age
equality in every aspect of their work.
Existing
forms of discrimination mean that anyone over 65 with mental health
needs is not included in mainstream services, and so receives less
funding and reduced services. There is also overt discrimination in
breast cancer treatment and bowel cancer tests, and many older report
receiving inferior health and social care.
Despite
experience of ageism being three times more common than any form of
discrimination – nearly one in four people (23%) has experienced some
form of age discrimination – older people can also legally lose out on
important goods and services simply because of the date on their birth
certificate. Age Concern’s report calls for light-touch protection
against unjust discrimination in goods and services. Discrimination is
pervasive across all aspects of the lives of older people: insurance,
car hire and financial products are often denied to people over certain
ages, or at an extortionate premium; volunteers often experience cut
off ages; and older people can be denied membership of clubs and
association or admission to places of entertainment.
Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said:
“At
present, older people can be openly and unfairly discriminated against
simply because of their age. It means they can be denied life-saving or
life-enhancing medical treatment, it means that they are unfairly
charged a premium and it means they can receive inferior service simply
because of their age.
“Age discrimination has been
left behind by legislation for other forms of prejudice, legislation
that has made a real difference to challenging unfair discrimination.
It is now time to offer the same protection for older people who have,
for too long, been treated as second class citizens.”
Age Concern 17th May 2007
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