大象传媒

Dr Margaret McCartney explores what we need from the NHS at different stages of our lives and what we can do to ease the pressures it's facing. This week we've reached the 'senior years'.

Multimorbidity, when a person has several chronic conditions, becomes more common as we age. Professor Frances Mair of Glasgow University says this can create a 'burden of treatment' where patients expend a lot of time and energy managing their conditions, navigating a healthcare system that isn't joined up and trying to make sense of contradictory advice. She explains ways the NHS can reduce the amount of time patients spend going to appointments.

As we get older, quality of life is more of an issue. Margaret catches up with Sir Muir Gray, a passionate advocate for active living in later life, who says it's never too late to improve your fitness levels and that no matter how stiff and slow you've become or how many medical conditions you have, you can benefit from doing more exercise.

After a fall, illness or operation people often become less active. Margaret visits the Rehabilitation Ward at Midlothian Community Hospital where Dr Trish Cantley is on a crusade to combat what's become known as 'PJ Paralysis' where patients lose fitness lying in bed. And we check out a Steady Steps class run by Edinburgh Leisure which aims to build confidence and prevent falls. The participants certainly prove you can have fun keeping fit at any age!