The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care

This paper argues that the UK’s ageing population is responsible for unsustainable costs in health and social care. It discusses the direct impact of ageing population on healthcare and social care delivery, the cost of age-specific health and social care, and the implications for the NHS. The paper also provides recommendations for policy changes to address the issue.

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care1
THE UK’S AGEING POPULATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSUSTAINABLE COSTS
IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
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The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care2
Introduction
The population of the United Kingdom has been rising significantly in the recent
past. According to the Government Office on Statistics UK (2017), about one in seven
people in the UK is likely to be above sixty-five years and above. While it is true that the
increase in lifespan in any given country is an indicator of economic stability and
improved quality of life, ageing has a significant adverse impact on healthcare costs. A
higher number of ageing population is a burden to the economic growth and social care,
considering that many people in this population has retired from employment. However,
lack of employment alone is not the burden. The major concern is when one realizes
that ageing population is prone to some of the end of life diseases such as stroke,
cancer, and diabetes. These diseases are terminal and consume a lot of resources from
the population that is not working. The NHS reported in 2016 that two thirds of the
national healthcare budget goes to the department dealing with people above sixty-five
years. This paper argues that the UK’s ageing population is responsible for
unsustainable costs in health and social care.
The Direct Impact of Ageing Population on Healthcare and Social Care Delivery
It is undisputed fact that as people age, they become dependent and attracts
direct impact on health and social service delivery. Ageing population poses serious
threat to the cost of healthcare delivery and social care, considering that people above
the age of sixty-five years have already retired and are hardly adding economic value to
the nation. It is also at the age of sixty-five years and above that the prevalence of
chronic diseases is reported to increase, creating an adverse impact on social services
available. A study by Nicol (2017) found that an old man costs the NHS system six
times more compared to a young man. Scholars have also linked lifestile diseases that
are prevalent in ageing population to inactivity. Young people are likely to stay
physically fit and active, while the old develop complications as consequences of
physical inactivity and alcohol and drug abuse when they were still young. Evidently, it
cannot be denied that the ageing population has created these problems and is not
readily available to tackle them.
The ageing population requires age-specific health and social care, which is
expensive to produce in industries and even to acquire from vendors. The major

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care3
setback to costs associated with old age is that sometimes treatment of chronic
diseases leads to other diseases that adversely affect social and health care delivery. In
the process of responding to challenges that face service delivery and care for the
ageing population, society and community at large is forced to set up nursing homes
and palliative care units. These facilities consume resources and funds that could have
been spent on other programs if the old people could have invested in
According to Townsend (2016), the government in the UK has managed to
develop and create a stable healthcare system that treats most of diseases that once
cut lives short. However, as many people live longer, there is a direct economic and
social pressure on the available healthcare and social care resources and services.
Long lifespan implies more funds for treatment of diseases that accompany age and
also more funds for housing. It becomes stressful when one realizes that most of old
people have not made savings that could help in making them less dependents (Storey,
2018). For the government to ensure constant supply of resources and care for this
population, it has to extend the costs to taxpayers in the earning generation. These
costs could have been lower if the ageing population could have stayed physically
active and made sufficient savings to spend on their healthcare.
The UK has a culture of pushing the old population to spend time in palliative
care or nursing homes. According to Thompson (2015), the cost of healthcare could be
low if the old spent time at home with their families. However, this has become
practically impossible to implement considering that many people that could take care of
the old are already in active employment and businesses. This implies that the old have
to spend time in in-patient programs and care. The cost of inpatient care is high to
provide and maintain both in terms of manpower and financing. Investors are also
aware of the potential of investing in potential that old age creates; hence they have
decided to increase the cost of services with the goal of taking advantage of the
vulnerable.
Carreras, Ibern, and Innoriza (2018) carried out a study in 2017 to investigate the
cost of healthcare expenditure at the end of life. The researchers found that health care
expenditure at the end of life increases as the function of length of life. Very few people,
if any, would be willing to terminate the lives of their loved ones during the terminal

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care4
years. As a result, having a significant number of old people in healthcare facilities has
a direct adverse effect to the family and the government at large. While it is true to
concede that the cost of healthcare at the end of life varies depending on the health
status of the individual, one can also not ignore that chronic diseases at the end of life
do not discriminate on status of the person. When the government assumes the
responsibility of shouldering the health burden of people that had not made any saving
in the past, the cost is transferred to the taxpayers who are struggling to keep the
economy moving.
The fact that people are living longer lives does not necessarily mean that people
are healthy. According to Hazra, Rudisill, and Gulliford (2017), the World Health
Organization reported in 2016 that the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases has
increased from two percent to four percent among the aging population in the last two
decades. Everyone is aware that the prevalence of these diseases is linked to lifestyle
choices such as obesity and sedentary lifestyles. The aging population comprising of
learned people knows these facts, but decided to ignore because they knew that there
is a responsible and hardworking upcoming generation that could shoulder the
responsibility of taking their of their health needs. The most pressing fact is that some of
them even propose lowering of the age at which pensions are paid with the goal of
burdening the NHS. If these people could have led responsible lives, the NHS in UK
could not have been forced to spend funds on them. This could translate to direct relief
on taxpayers.
Opponents of the views expressed in this would argue that the current NHS has
the capacity of sustaining the current population. However, one has to take into
consideration the fact that NHS is currently under pressure to evaluate its system
financial performance and its impact on the national budget. The millennial population is
concerned that the aging population is burdening health and social care and are
pushing for its change. With the current uncertainty about the economy of the UK after
the BrExit, there is little doubt that the government will sustain an already overpowered
health care system. Even though one may assume that things may work out in future, it
is better to prepare for unknown than sitting back and waiting for the crisis to strike.

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care5
Discussions for Future and Implications for NHS
It is evident from the analysis above that the crisis of the aging population is a
ticking bomb that will shutter the NHS into irreparable system. Policymakers have a
responsibility of making urgent and immediate working interventions to address the
issue both from the local level and international level. Elderly nursing homes and
palliative facilities will not be spared when the aging population exceeds the ability of
the NHS and the government at large. Currently, the main concern should be on how to
address the issue but not for short-term intervention. Any recommendation for changes
should seek to introduce long-term interventions that help the government and the
society at large. The following are some of the recommendation for policy changes.
Increase the age at which pensions are paid.
People become responsible when they realize that it will take time before they
start benefitting from the government’s pension schemes. Policy changes to extend the
age limit at which pensions are paid will reduce the government’s role in caring for the
aged while at the same time creating a responsible society (Watkins, et al. (2017). The
policy will also see to it that currently employed people and their families take
reasonable measures to avoid suffering the consequences of an expensive healthcare
system once they have retired.
Oliver, Foot, and Humphries (2014) recommend that the best intervention to help
NHS and its beneficiaries is to acknowledge that the current generation is already in a
ticking crisis and develop mechanisms of intervention. Oliver, Foot, and Humphries
(2014), therefore, recommend that we develop a health care system that is suitable for
the current population while at the same time taking into consideration the welfare of the
aging population. The best strategy is to involve the entire population and eliminate
hatred so that they support the policy change. For instance, the currently healthcare
system focuses on young people while hardly takes into consideration the welfare of the
currently employed, in spite of the fact that the employed population pays tax to sustain
the system. This animosity can be overcome when all the stakeholders work together
towards inclusion and developing policies of inclusion rather than exclusion with the
purpose of empowerment.

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care6
Another possible intervention is the empowerment of local and community wards
with the goal of making them effective and accessible. Accessibility is not all about their
usage, but empowerment with the goal of creating awareness and creating awareness
on the need to integrate and include society. The goal of empowering community and
society is to prepare the aging population that risk admission to seek community service
instead of burdening the few available resources. Young people should also be
encouraged to take advantage of the available systems with the goal of taking into
consideration sustainability. According to Nicol (2017), most people in employment do
not understand that they are likely to need the national healthcare service in future. A
few that are aware assume that it will cater for all their needs; hence they do not create
alternative savings to support them when they retire. It is this population that ignores the
burden of the healthcare that increases the cost of the healthcare.
Provide Telecare for the aging population
Technology has created an option for people in need of healthcare services, creating an
alternative for those that do not want to spend time in nursing homes and palliative care.
According to Winner (2018), many old people do not like spending their last days in
nursing homes or in palliative care. Many old people want to stay at home because they
view nursing homes and palliative care facilities as prisons. This indicates an
opportunity for exploitation that can be utilized. With the current telecare technology in
place, there is no need to rely on palliative care and nursing homes. Instead, people
that needs these services away from hospital setting and can afford them should be
given an opportunity to enroll for telecare services. This will reduce overdependence on
the national services as people op for private services.
Conclusion
The ageing population takes responsibility for the surging cost of health and
social care in the UK. The decisions that people make while still young come to haunt
them at the old age. Chronic diseases are linked to lifestyle choices such as alcohol
abuse. Additionally, some people hardly make savings to sustain them at old age. This
creates a burden on the health and social care system in the country. There is a need
for immediate intervention to address the loops in NHS and the society at large.

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care7
Intervention strategies recommended in this analysis should focus on long-term
solutions.

The UK’s Ageing Population is Responsible for Unsustainable Costs in Health and Social Care8
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