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The Editorial

Hope I die before I get old?

My father has been in hospital since last September. He is now 87 years old and is very frail. Visiting him there, and taking my mother each day to visit, I have, over the last few months seen a snapshot of the workings of the NHS for the elderly. Unfortunately, what I have seen has not been good.

John Benton

There have been many incidents which have disappointed us including my father contracting a number of conditions with which he did not enter the hospital. An infected toe did not have the dressing changed for well over a week, despite my mother pointing this out on a number of occasions. Another man in the ward was moved out by his family to a private hospital. The nurses had accidentally thrown away his false teeth but had done nothing to replace them. The man was having great difficulty even eating. The stories could go on.