Ancient and Modern?

It there is one thing that everyone agrees on about Covid-19, it's that the likely outcome of an infection for older people is generally much worse than that of their younger counterparts. They often have more extreme symptoms and infection is more likely to end in death. In an opinion piece, Dorothy Byrne (a spring chicken, at 68), has posed the question "Why should I have to lie to get proper Covid treatment?" (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/28/covid-england-older-people-care-health-service). She points to examples where older people appear to have been discriminated against by the NHS in England. This includes the claim that some hospitals in Liverpool, London and Manchester toyed with applying an age-based scoring system to decide whether patients could receive (the limited) available life-saving treatment. The percentage of Covid-19 patients, aged 60 and more, at the height of the first wave, who received intensive care, reportedly fell by almost 50%. The Department of Health claimed that the age-based scoring system was 'never implemented'. The perception (whether 'false' or not) persists, even in the opinions of some senior health professionals. Older people (who, naturally accumulate more ailments) are also, reportedly missing out on life-saving surgery and treatment for other medical conditions in the pandemic-disrupted NHS. Again, this appears to be to a greater extent, than is seen in younger cohorts. Much as I appreciate the NHS, I have never found them to be especially good, at explaining to patients or their families, the reasons why certain treatments may or may not be available (I'm sure that this can be a difficult conversation). Even finding out what is happening next can be difficult at the best of times! It seems to me, that we have created a potentially toxic mix, when sections of the group most vulnerable to Covid-19 are coming to feel that they might be 'disposable' in terms of NHS treatment.