14 October 2012 Last updated at 19:40 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Assumptions about fitness in older people should not be used to decide whether patients have surgery, according to a report by the Royal College of Surgeons and Age UK.

It says some older patients miss out on vital treatment because of their age.

Age discrimination in the NHS has been made illegal but the report says it may still happen when budgets are tight.

Doctors should look at the overall health of a patient instead of using cut-off ages for procedures, it said.

The report, Access All Ages, points out that there are valid reasons why an older patient might not be considered for surgery - because they have other health problems that increase the risk of operations, or that they themselves prefer not to go under the knife.

However, the report said: "While there may be legitimate clinical reasons why an older person may not benefit from surgery, it remains the case that some patients may be missing out.

"Decisions may not always be made on the basis of a comprehensive and objective assessment, but on a series of assumptions about fitness in older age."

Too many medical decisions we believe have been made on age alone with informal 'cut-offs' imposed so that people over a certain age were denied treatment

It said some doctors may have "outdated perceptions" and a "lack of awareness" about older patients and their ability to cope with surgery.

See the original post here:
Age 'should not affect' surgery