Going Dutch

摘要

Statistics on our ageing population have revealed there are now 11.6 million people over the age of 65 living in the UK, with 1.5 million aged 85 or over. The number of people aged 85 and over has doubled over the past three decades and the latest estimations claim that by 2065, 26% of the population of England and Wales will be over 65 - up from 18% today. Of course, our ageing population represents a victory for standards of living and the huge strides we have made in medicine and care. But it also represents an enormous challenge for our social care and health services - particularly because healthy life expectancy is not increasing as quickly.