November 10, 2023

Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2023: Health in an Ageing Society

Government and the medical profession need to adapt to an ageing population – Chief Medical Officer.

• Professor Chris Whitty’s fourth annual report will be published on Friday 10^th November.
• The CMO for England will say that we can significantly improve the quality of life for older citizens – this should be a major aim of policy and medical practice.
• Government and professional bodies have not recognised the degree to which the population living in older age is concentrating geographically.
• The rise of multiple conditions in the same older person (multimorbidity) requires changes in medical training, NHS services and research.

The fact that people are living longer compared to a century ago is a triumph of medicine and public health, but an expansion of the period in ill-health is not inevitable.

We need to focus on how to maximise the independence and minimise the time in ill-health between reaching older age and the end of their life. Quality, enjoyment and independence should be the principle aims.

Speakers included:

Prof Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England

Dr Ben Holden, Public Health Registrar