Elderly are particularly vulnerable in society, especially in cold weather.

The UK has borne the brunt of the winter chill, with December the coldest it’s been in 14 years. The efficiency of our services, including councils and emergency services, has inevitably been reduced due to lack of staff, resources and access to snow-prone areas.

However, we live in a developed, civilised country. Is there any excuse for letting down the most vulnerable, particularly at a time when their need is obviously greatest?

An elderly couple in Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire, were found dead in their home last week. According to the Daily Mail, it is thought that Mr Randall, aged 76, passed away first, then Mrs Randall, 79, died because there was no one to bring her food or drink.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about this case is the fact that Mr Randall had asked for help back in November 2009, realising that he no longer could care for his wife. Neighbours have been quoted as trying to get help for the couple, including making many phone calls to the local social services and Age Concern charity – but to no avail.

The elderly are at their most vulnerable in the cold weather, often unable to get out to meet others or buy food, and often unable to afford expensive heating bills. According to Age Concern, 36‚700 excess winter deaths were recorded in England and Wales last year, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the previous winter. This winter could produce even higher numbers, with the mean temperature in England standing at just 2.1°C over the last few weeks.

It’s not just in the cold weather that the elderly are neglected. Sir Michael Parkinson, who fronts the Department of Health’s Dignity in Care campaign, reported interesting findings about the experience of his elderly mother in care. He said: “The care my mother received in the hospital and care home, and in her own home, caused me some concern. None of it was deliberately cruel, nor was it deliberately neglectful, but there were areas where it didn’t actually work, where it wasn’t as it should be, and that bothered me.”

It doesn’t just appear to be a lack of being ‘neighbourly’ – in the tragic case of the Randalls, their neighbours regularly visited and acted on their behalf to get help. So does this make it a case of system failures?

Perhaps it is a combination of both. Sir Michael summed up the situation well in his report: “I think the thing we really need to address is the fact that we treat old people as unworthy of our time and consideration. If we treated young people the way we treat older people there would be an outcry, quite rightly so. We don’t complain enough about the way our older people are treated.”