The number of emergency admissions to hospital in the United Kingdom continues to rise despite the shift in emphasis towards care in the community. Admissions are reported to have been increasing for four decades and, although these increases span all age groups, major contributions come from older persons. The most important and immediately apparent factors contributing to this change are that people are living longer, are more likely to suffer from multiple pathologies and are therefore frequent users of hospital acute services. OECD (1994) projections indicate that the proportion of people aged 65 and over in the population will have doubled from an average of below 10% in 1950 to over 20% by the year 2050.