In the UK, the likelihood of being referred for specialist care varies according to age, sex and socio-economic circumstances, finds a study published on bmj.com today (1st December).

The research, which looked at referral rates for three common conditions, shows that older patients are less likely to be referred than younger patients, women are less likely to be referred for hip pain, and referrals fall with increasing deprivation for patients with hip pain and younger patients with indigestion (dyspepsia).

Nearly a third (29.4 per cent) of nurses are not confident that it would be noticed if a relative of theirs was malnourished when entering hospital, according to findings released today as part of Age UK’s Still Hungry to be Heard campaign. The results spark fresh fears that older people are still being left to go hungry in hospital.

In the Concert, Romanian/French Director Radu Mihaileanu revisits the theme and allegorical style of his feature Train of Life with diminishing returns.

In ‘Train of Life’ the Jewish inhabitants of a central European village in 1941 organise a fake deportation that heads for Palestine instead of the concentration camps. At the core of The Concert is a fake Russian orchestra, heading for Paris instead of manual labour under a dictatorship in their communist homeland. 

The deceit represents Art’s (the afflicted musicians’) triumph over anti-Semitism, Power, Repression and History. These are big themes and the feebly constructed The Concert, collapses under their weight. 

Pensions Minister Mike O’Brien’s homily is merely cynical hypocrisy when he writes: "We must begin to free our minds from some of the prejudices about ageing". He must first free the minds of his DWP colleagues from their prejudice against half the expatriate pensioners, 500,000 people overwhelmingly in the major Commonwealth countries who are denied annual uprating, their pensions frozen for all time.

The Mature Times has highlighted the unfair freezing of overseas pensions. So I am writing to alert people to the fact that there is now an e-petition on the subject. 

“Our shared aim should be to ensure that pension promises are kept and pensioners are secure in retirement...” But what is Mike O’Brien doing to implement his beliefs? Evidently nothing.

The balance of the National Insurance Fund is predicted to be around £70 billion by 2008, £81 billion by 2009, over £121 billion by 2012 and £136 billion by 2013.