consider ways to better integrate, firstly, hospital care with wider health considerations, such as the environment and lifestyle, and, secondly, health and social care support, such as social work and care home services;

23. Points out that, as regards hospital services in another Member State, the procedure for granting authorisation must provide a guarantee for patients protecting them from arbitrary decisions taken by their national authorities; points out that, in order to facilitate the free movement of patients without prejudicing Member States" planning objectives, in the light of the case law of the Court of Justice, hospital treatment should be defined narrowly as treatment which can only be provided within hospital infrastructure and may not be provided, for example, in a practitioner's surgery or at t ...[+++]he patient's home; points out, in particular, that any refusal to grant an authorisation must be open to challenge in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings and that, for the purpose of assessing the medical situation of each patient, entirely objective and impartial advice from independent experts should be sought;

to integrate health care and long-term care for the elderly more effectively with each other; to step up research in the field of gerontology so as to redress the varying levels of care in the Member States; to create geriatric or post-acute rehabilitation facilities outside hospitals; to take specific measures to promote home care and set up health services that are specially adapted to deal with age-related illness patterns;

to integrate health care and long-term care for the elderly more effectively with each other; to step up research in the field of gerontology so as to redress the varying levels of care in the EU Member States; to create geriatric or post-acute rehabilitation facilities outside hospitals; to take specific measures to promote home care and set up health services that are specially adapted to deal with age-related illness patterns;

* develop prevention and guidance policies at treatment entry points, so as to reduce the need for expensive treatments, particularly hospital and intensive care, and to this end strengthen the coordination between the various care providers (primary care, hospitals, local social services).

This group covers the services of general and specialist hospitals, the services of medical centres, maternity centres, nursing homes and convalescence homes which chiefly provide in-patient health care, the services of institutions serving old people in which medical monitoring is an essential component and the services of rehabilitation centres providing in-patient health care and rehabilitative therapy where the objective is to treat the patient rather than to provide long-term support.