TY - JOUR T1 - Editor's Briefing JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 395 LP - 395 DO - 10.3399/bjgp12X653426 VL - 62 IS - 601 AU - Roger Jones Y1 - 2012/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/62/601/395.abstract N2 - We are publishing a number of important articles about the health care of older people this week. The National Clinical Director for Older People has thrown down the gauntlet to GPs, exhorting them to rise to the challenge of contributing to the care of the growing population of older citizens. Other papers look at frailty, dementia, visual impairment, and hospital admissions from care homes, as well as the role of pharmacists in monitoring potential prescribing problems in patients requiring polypharmacy and, of particular importance for older people, the recurring questions about the value and availability of continuity of care in general practice.These are all weighty matters, but in a way we are only scratching the surface here. Steadily rising life expectancy creates new medical problems, including the care and costs of chronic conditions and of supporting very old people in their last years of life. It also seriously compromises the surprisingly complacent plans that have been made in both the public and private sectors for … ER -