Minister wants UK to adopt Indian attitude towards the elderly

Britain must try and adopt an attitude like the one prevalent in the Indian subcontinent towards caring for the elderly,according to the countrys Health Minister Jeremy Hunt.

Hunt was speaking in reference to figures that revealed that up to a million elderly people in the UK were being consigned to a life of loneliness and ill-health because of societys failure to take responsibility for older relatives.

In those South Asian countries,when living alone is no longer possible,residential care is a last rather than a first option, he said in a provocative speech at the National Childrens and Adults Services conference in North Yorkshire Friday.