大象传媒

As the National Health Service and social services struggle to meet the needs of today's ageing population, Dr Kevin Fong reflects back on his own medical career to explore why this is now such a challenge and what's being done to address it.

In this opening programme, Kevin reveals how professionals, working on the front line in health and social care, try to address the complex needs of older people, whether it's discharging them from hospital or trying to support them in the community.

Many older people are not only frail but have multiple illnesses, and many have memory problems. So they often need a combination of 'health' and 'social' care, funded partly by the NHS, which is free for all, and by social services, which is means-tested. Working out who should pay for what aspect of the care & equipment a person needs, to ensure they are safe and well supported is a daily challenge for those working on the front line in hospitals and in the community.

Hospitals are overwhelmed with the old and frail, many of whom no longer need medical treatment. The care arrangements can be so complex for some that discharge is delayed, by not just days but weeks or months.

As resources become more stretched, this question of who pays for what is becoming all the more critical.

Producer: Beth Eastwood.