A December, 2025 report from England's National Audit Office (NAO) has exposed substantial deficits in care for people with frailty in the country. General practitioners (GPs) within England's National Health Service (NHS) are not providing the level of support needed by people living with frailty, says the report, which outlines a suite of recommendations aimed at a more consistent, community-focused and patient-centric approach to frailty in England.

The lack of a structured approach is also true in rheumatology, according to Sarah B. Lieber, MD, MS, rheumatologist at HSS. “Frailty is not yet assessed routinely among older adults with rheumatic conditions”, she explains, “due to an expanding, but still nascent evidence base in rheumatology and lack of consensus over which frailty tools to use in different rheumatic conditions and contexts.” In the USA, the federal Medicare program does not mandate frailty assessment or treatment, although a new regulatory measure requires Medicare-funded US hospitals to report on their frailty screening and intervention protocols or face substantial financial penalties.

Read the full article at thelancet.com.