ABSTRACT
It is recognised that geriatric medicine is a relatively new area of medical practice. It has been regarded by many as an administrative necessity rather than as a clinical discipline. It suffers from the legacy of the Poor Law and the era of the chronic irremediable sick storehouse concept. The term ‘geriatrics’ has different connotations to different people, but it is popularly regarded as a field of health care which acts as a repository for demented, physically disabled and socially unacceptable old people. The tragic restraints, barriers and hurdles that have often to be overcome are mainly due to emotional misconceptions and, in no small measure, to culpable ignorance.
