Older people are treated as "second-class citizens" by hospitals and the social services, according to a major study of care for the over-fifties.

A joint investigation by the Healthcare Commission, the Audit Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspector found that widespread ageism means that the elderly are regarded as a low priority by NHS staff and denied a voice in the planning of healthcare.

On hospital wards, older people were found to be moved without reason, discharged without proper planning and given inadequate help to eat their meals, meaning that some patients went without food. Poor foot care and problematic public transport left older people more vulnerable to falls and isolation. The most explicit discrimination against over-65's was found in the mental healthcare system.

"Older people are the biggest users of healthcare, occupying almost two thirds of our hospital beds," said Anna Walker, the Chief Executive of the Healthcare Commission. "Yet they continue to be a low priority in both the planning and development of our health service."

An underlying cause of the poor treatment, and in some cases outright abuse and neglect, meted out to the elderly was ageism, according to the report, which was ordered to study the Government's progress five years into a 10-year-plan to improve healthcare for the over-fifties.

"There is a deep rooted cultural attitude to ageing, where older people are often presented as incapable and dependent – particularly in the media," the study found.

Although the report found improvements in attitudes toward the elderly since the Government launched its policy, it said that progress had been patchy and needed to accelerate.

Over-65's account for 16 per cent of the British population and consume 43 per cent of NHS expenditure. By 2051, more than a quarter of the population will be over-65. The study found that 95 per cent of elderly people surveyed had not been asked for their views on their treatment by the NHS or local council in the last year.

The elderly received the most unequal treatment in the mental healthcare system, where the report said "all aspects" of care needed to improve.

"There are poorer and less integrated services for older people with mental health needs compared to those people with mental health needs aged under 65," the study found, identifying a lack of emergency psychiatric advice for the elderly among a series of weaknesses.

"Older people who had made the transition between these services when they reached age 65 said there were noticeable differences such as poorer quality, fewer services and less support." the report said.

Gordon Lishman, the director-general of Age Concern England, said that it was shocking that so many social services departments were still failing to meet the needs of older people - their main users.

"Sadly, too many older people in need of public services are currently treated as second-class citizens," he said. "Mental health services for older people are chronically under-funded, leaving many to struggle with no support at all."

"At 65, people are often shunted out of specialist services simply because of their age. With no new investment older people and their carers will continue to be denied the help and support that they need."

Liam Byrne, the Care Services Minister, said that care for older people had been "completely transformed" in the last five years, but acknowledged that neglect and a lack of dignity in care had to be rectified.

"It is difficult to pretend that neglect is the whole story but it is too big a part of the story and that’s why further reform is necessary to eliminate it once and for all," he said.

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