title: Editorial.
abstract: A 'care lottery' is how the health committee branded the current inequities in health and social care provision for elderly people. In a report which was highly critical of the government's stance, the health committee called for national guidelines on eligibility criteria for NHS funded care. The committee also called for better discharge procedures, which ensured a 'package of care' for elderly people, and a charter for long term care to be established, which would set minimum standards for patients regardless of where they live.