A person shouldn鈥檛 be the target of discrimination simply because of being old, but it鈥檚 not discrimination to monitor someone whose performance could be affected by advancing age.
After receiving about 100 complaints from concerned colleagues and patients last year, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of sa国际传媒 says older doctors have a duty to retire before declining mental or physical health harms patients.
Since sa国际传媒 abolished mandatory retirement in 2008, a growing number of doctors have opted to keep working. Of the 11,500 physicians practising in sa国际传媒, more than 1,700 are over the age of 65.
Doctors continue working because they enjoy the work, their identity is bound up in their profession or because they want or need the income.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 Human Rights Code was amended to protect against age discrimination, one facet of which is the assumption that someone who reaches the age of 65 has suddenly become incompetent or useless. In fact, the opposite is often true 鈥� many seniors possess insights, skills and knowledge that can only be acquired through years of experience.
But there鈥檚 no denying that age takes its toll. Reactions become slower, mobility is reduced and mental acuity wanes 鈥� those are realities of aging. While it is unfair to automatically assume someone is less able because of age, it is unwise to ignore the fact that, sooner or later, age slows us all down, and we should be prepared to deal with that fact.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons recognizes the realities. Most doctors undergo an assessment every eight years, but those over the age of 70 are evaluated more frequently. Complaints about performance that might be related to age are thoroughly investigated. The subjects of such complaints will be required to have another doctor pronounce them fit to practise, much the same as older drivers are required to do.
Speaking of drivers, while provincial legislation prohibits age discrimination, that doesn鈥檛 stop the hue and cry about getting senior drivers off the road every time there鈥檚 an accident involving an older person.
Let a 75- or 80-year-old get involved in an accident, and the driver鈥檚 age becomes the focus. Age is hardly noticed if a 40-year-old driver is involved, yet drivers in their 40s are more likely to be involved in injury or fatal accidents than people in their 80s.
Insurance Corp. of sa国际传媒 statistics show that elderly drivers are not to blame for a disproportionate number of serious collisions. Teenage drivers, those statistics show, account for a disproportionate share of injury or fatal accidents.
Nevertheless, it鈥檚 the reality that age brings with it a reduction in the abilities and reactions required to be a safe driver.
Testing at the proper time will ensure those abilities have not diminished beyond the point of personal and public safety. That holds true in driving, in health care and in many other occupations.
鈥淛ust as inexperienced drivers are often at high risk, so too are younger doctors,鈥� says Dr. Ailve McNestry, deputy registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 鈥淧otential risks early in medical careers may be the same as they are late in careers.鈥�
Stereotypes would have us believe people become less useful with age, but studies show that when it comes to performance, older workers soundly thrash their younger colleagues. They have developed work habits, skills and perceptions that more than compensate for the effects of age.
We should not be quick to dismiss the value of older workers. On the other hand, no older person in any occupation should resent testing and evaluations that ensure they can still do their job.
