Britain’s services for the elderly are fragmented, inefficient and concentrate on care instead of prevention. The authors argue that we need to prolong the period of active, healthy retirement and postpone frailty and dependence. Where care is needed, it should be delivered by an integrated system of delivery. The authors propose a single purchasing system to buy the whole range of cure, care and community services for elderly people. Diana Leat is Senior Research Fellow at the Policy Studies Institute. Perri 6 is a writer, lecturer and Demos Associate.