Quality control and geriatric medicine in the European Union

Abstract

The responsibility and one of the main goals of specialist medical associations is to guarantee the services of the members of that speciality to patients and health care purchasers. Standardised training programmes and quality control of patients’ services contribute to good health care. We will define quality control and the contribution that organisations can make to the process of quality control in geriatric medicine in the European Union (EU). The age group > 65 years Eurostat [1] has presented data on the percentage of the population aged 65 years and older between 1995 and 2050. For most countries the percentage of persons older than 65 years of age will be above 25% in 2050. In Italy and Spain the population will grow from 15.3% and 16.5%, respectively, in 1995 to 31.5% in 2050. The smallest change is expected for The Netherlands where the proportion is expected to go from 13.3% to 21.7%. All national governments of the EU member countries are autonomous for all aspects of health care, including the structure, type and quality of services, education and quality control. There have been increasing efforts to harmonise both services and training facilities across the EU, and diplomas obtained in one country are accepted by all other member countries. However, a geriatrician trained in Italy follows a 4-year training programme without a specific period of training in internal medicine, while in France, 2 years of training in geriatric medicine has to be undergone after completing 5 years of training in internal medicine. Both physicians have the same position as a recognised medical specialist in geriatric medicine in the EU [2]. To guarantee the quality of services to patients, quality control is essential. Quality control