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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2004

Chapter 2 - The Ombudsman and Older People

The Ombudsman and Older People

Longevity is widely accepted as one hallmark of an advanced society. The relative poverty of a country is frequently indicated by reference to the short, average life span of its citizens, in contrast to that of economically richer societies. It is ironic, therefore, that the growing number of older people in many of those rich countries, particularly in the west, is increasingly seen as burdensome.

We have witnessed this phenomenon in Ireland, a country whose dazzling economic success has paralleled the gradual “greying” of our society with more people than ever expected to live into their seventies, eighties and nineties. By the year 2011 it is estimated that persons aged 65 and over will represent 14% of our population, compared with just under 12% now. By the year 2050, that percentage will have risen to 24%.

Those facts, in turn, have cued national debate about the “burdens” such objectively welcome developments will bring in their wake, be it increased pressure on the health services, on social welfare services, on nursing home provision, or on pension funds. In general, all of these and other issues are viewed negatively, with scant attention paid to the potential for the positive enrichment of society by the increased numbers of older, wiser members and the need to make sure that their lives are afforded the same protection and respect as those of our young children. The general negative attitude towards ageing and the aged also smacks of failures of imagination and empathy. Most of us wish for long lives, yet dread actually growing old. Many of us have elderly relatives and friends yet fail to champion their interests, interests that may one day be our own. Those charged with service provision, be it public or private, be it car hire or health care, should remember that they too - if lucky - will also grow old and should factor that in whenever the effective rationing of services based on age is being contemplated.

The elderly and their advocates have many concerns about the discriminatory way they are sometimes treated in this society. They worry that certain health treatments and/or screenings may not be available to them, services that could ensure less dependence on scarce and expensive medical services as they age. They worry about the financial and other burdens of nursing home care if and when they need it. They are concerned at the lack of employment and educational opportunities even for those under the usual retirement age of 65. Above all they worry about the increasing tendency in society to view them as redundant and wasteful of resources.

The use of the term, “bed blocker” in relation to one aspect the on-going crises in our health services is symptomatic of the attitude that elderly people dread. One of the most distressing aspects of the A and E crisis, as noted by those who witnessed it, was the fact that those who suffered most were often the elderly, frequently robbed of their dignity as hard pressed and otherwise caring staff nonetheless were forced to carry out certain tests and interventions in public areas of the hospital.

As Ombudsman I deal with many complaints from, or on behalf of, elderly people, a selection of which are published below. Many stem from the failure of public bodies to pay due concern to the very fact that the complainants are elderly and may have difficulty in understanding complex forms or in obeying detailed regulations or guidelines about benefits and other schemes. Others stem from the failure fully to examine the circumstances of a case and therefore not give due regard to an elderly person’s frailty, medical condition, or general incapacity when assessing them for anything from an enhanced nursing home subvention, a home improvement, or any benefit that would make their lives easier and less stressful.

The now well analysed nursing homes controversy-and which I discuss in Chapter Four of this Report-stemmed from the systematic failure to ensure that charging practices were kept within the law. Attempts to shoehorn clearly ultra vires regulations into various charging schemes led at times to great distress both for the elderly and for their families.

Over the years, the Ombudsman has also been alert to any improper attempt by public bodies to place too much emphasis on a person’s age when assessing them for a particular benefit. Sometimes there are valid reasons, perhaps health and safety reasons, why certain services are not made available to elderly people, or are made available at a higher charge. But we should all guard against a mindset that automatically affords less value to the life of the older person, a dangerous mindset by any standards. The Equal Status Act, 2000, of course, specifically prohibits age related discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

As Ombudsman, I have no role in enacting legislation or in promoting one policy initiative over another. But I do have a role in ensuring that people are treated fairly by the administration, and, when it comes to the elderly, fairly means without discrimination, with due regard to their physical or mental capacity, and above all with respect to their human dignity, to the positives of ageing, and to the role the now elderly have played in helping to secure the economic bounty that their children and grandchildren now enjoy.

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