Ask the Experts is a forum in which nurse consultants working with older people debate an issue in older people’s care and offer advise. This month they consider how their hospital is ensuring that standards of care for older people are evaluated and monitored in a positive way, involving patients in the process

Standard-4 of the National Service Framework for Older People (2001) developed an increased focus around the care and management of older people within the hospital environment. Yet media attention over the last 12 months has highlighted that we still have some way to go to instil confidence that older people in hospital are accessing the right services and also receiving care appropriate to their needs.