The Engineer

John Fisher, director of Leeds' Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering

In-Depth

Rolling back the years: John Fisher is on a mission to improve the quality of life for Britain’s ageing population

If you’re over 85, you’re no longer simply classified as ’old’. You are, instead, part of an elite group that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) now refers to as ’the oldest old’. Last year, the ONS estimated that 1.3 million people in the UK belonged to this category and that this figure would double over the next 25 years.

In Britain, around 40 per cent of over 65s suffer from a long-standing illness or disability, increasing to 69 per cent for those over 85

Give this statistic to a politician and they’ll probably spin it into positive news - we’re living longer and enjoying a higher standard of living. But the reality is that the increased quantity of life hasn’t led to an improvement in quality. In Britain, around 40 per cent of over 65s suffer from a long-standing illness or disability, increasing to 69 per cent for those over 85.

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