Commenting on the Health Select Committee report on Social Care, Dr Linda Patterson, clinical vice-president of the Royal College of Physicians, said:
The RCP agrees with the Health Committee that older people are being let down by fragmented care services. The changing demographic and associated increase in medical conditions make this one of the key issues of the day, as it touches the lives of everyone involved in health and social care. If there were better integration of health and social care services, people would be able to stay as long as possible in their own homes, living productive independent lives.
In its evidence to the committee, the RCP identified the need to break down professional boundaries so that health professionals can manage patients using integrated care pathways designed by local clinicians. The RCP believes there also needs to be multi-agency and multi-professional national leadership, with greater physician involvement, to support the development and dissemination of good healthcare practice in care homes. The needs of older people would also be better met if we moved to a tariff structure that better reflected clinical complexity.