NHS chief’s warning over old-age health crisis

THE NHS risks being overwhelmed by an old-age health crisis, the UK Government’s new senior health adviser warns.

Chris Whitty says drastic action is needed to cope with a surge in the number of patients aged over 65.

He admits countryside areas and coastal towns with older populations are often poorly served by GPs, hospital clinics, ambulances and out-of-hours providers.

Professor Whitty proposes radical solutions to the ageing crisis. Speaking to the Mail he explained how:

Doctors’ training will be reformed so they are able to better care for patients with several chronic conditions;

Medical schools will be located in rural and coastal areas to ensure more doctors serve these ageing communities;

Cervical cancer and many liver cancers will be eradicated in 60 years and other types will be much easier to treat;

Ministers must avoid letting big tobacco firms lure children onto e-cigarettes;

‘Gap between what people need and get’

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Professor Whitty, 53, is the new chief medical officer for England. One of his most pressing concerns is how to meet the needs of the growing numbers of older patients with multiple illnesses.

Eighteen per cent of the population is over 65 but by 2038 this figure is expected to reach 24 per cent, nearly one in four.

Professor Whitty said: ‘The ageing of the population of rural areas will occur much faster... The gap between what people need and what people get will widen.

‘We have under-appreciated how much this is going to be an issue.

‘This is predictable and it’s solvable, provided we take a long run at it.’

He added: ‘One of the things we need to look at is how we can incentivise GPs and other doctors to want to work in these [rural] areas. If we wait until the problem has hit us, which it undoubtedly will, it will be a lot harder to sort out.’