Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T12:20:18.468Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Age discrimination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Martin Guha*
Affiliation:
29 Ruthin Road, London SE3 7SJ
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Type
Columns
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2006

As the part-time librarian of the College is about to take maternity leave and will require cover for 6 months or so, and as I shall very shortly be at a loose end myself, I thought that I would apply for the position. I quite enjoy running psychiatric libraries and have some experience of doing so. I also know that it is very hard to get good part-time locum staff and I am always happy to help out. I was distressed to discover, however, that the College has a strict policy of retiring its staff at the age of 60 and of not recruiting any staff over that age.

I am sure that the College's new locum librarian will be able to dig out plenty of references to support the contention that enforced idleness has a deleterious effect on the mental health of older people. If the College had refused to consider me for a locum post on the grounds of my skin colour or of my gender there would have been public outrage. I see no reason why ageism of this sort should not be regarded with equal distaste. The only criteria when recruiting a locum should be the applicant's ability to do the job properly.

Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.