BGS - Joining the Dots: A blueprint for preventing and managing frailty in older people

Dear Colleagues,

The BGS today published Joining the Dots: A blueprint for preventing and managing frailty in older people. The Blueprint aims to show what good-quality age-attuned integrated care for older people looks like. It is intended to help commissioners in the design and delivery of health and care services for older people.

This document has been developed by healthcare professionals from across the BGS membership under the expert leadership of Professor Anne Hendry. The Blueprint sets out why organisations commissioning healthcare must focus on older people and on the prevention and management of frailty in particular. The way services are currently configured and delivered is not meeting the needs of older people, who are the largest group using health and social care services. We offer this document to commissioners across the UK in the hope that they will seize the opportunity to transform older people's healthcare.

Using seven system touchpoints from 'Enabling independence, promoting wellbeing' through to 'Co-ordinated, compassionate end of life care', our Blueprint highlights the key features of high-quality, integrated and sustainable care for older people and draws upon examples from the BGS community and beyond to illustrate good practice.