THE Department of Health has been accused of "writing off" many elderly people after limiting invitations to an NHS disease prevention scheme to those aged 40 to 74.

North Yorkshire County councillor Peter Horton said while the lower age limit for the NHS Health Check programme, which is being offered to those without previously diagnosed heart disease, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, appeared reasonable, it neglected those most prone to health issues.

The Independent Ripon councillor, 77, said the age limits amounted to a rationing of healthcare by the Government.

He said: "Are we considered to be settled and at no risk, or are we written off as too old to bother with?

"Surely the older one is the more likely one is to have serious health problems and I do not consider this cut-off point to be acceptable."

The council's public health boss, Councillor David Chance, said he thought of the scheme as a "midlife MOT".

He said the main reason for the upper age limit is linked to prevention of premature death, which is currently defined as death before age 75.

Cllr Chance said: "The Health Checks Programme is not a screening programme in the strictest sense like breast cancer screening so the research on effectiveness and cost effectiveness of varying age cut-offs is less robust that for formal screening programmes.

"People who are over 75 years can still have a health check if their GP thinks this is clinically required."

A Department of Health spokesman said it had placed age restrictions on the screening programme to target those most likely to be affected by the diseases.

He added: "It is a programme to capture trends in particular diseases,"