*1.2. Legal Aspects*

Elderly patients, regardless of their mental and physical capacities, have certain inviolable rights registered by multiple international treaties. Within this subsection, we consider three rights that should be considered. However, these are not the only ones (because there are also many others, such as confidentiality, as well as those contained in the Code of Medical Ethics): the right to non-discrimination (by age in this case), the right to accurate and truthful information, and the right not to receive treatment [12–14].

#### *1.3. Bioethical Aspects of Caring for Elderly Patients*

Clinical care and clinical ethics must be incorporated into geriatric care in order to develop high-quality care. Concerning the care of the elderly with hip fracture, the creation of orthogeriatric units has been a genuine revolution in the overall treatment of this, particularly vulnerable patients [15]. Incorporating values, together with objective facts, ensures that this care preserves the dignity of every elderly patient who receives health or social care. However, we are currently in a situation of moral pluralism in which it is not easy to reach agreements on what should and should not be carried out in the care of the elderly. Several methods have been developed in the field of bioethics that can help determine the ethical minimums required of any individual (professional, volunteer, politician, manager, and others.) about the care of the elderly [16]. Within the different methods that exist in the field of bioethics, and although the same problem can be approached from various perspectives, we consider principialism, based on the principles described in Beauchamp and Childress [16], and specifically that modified by Professor Diego Gracia Guillén, known as the "deliberative method", to be appropriate for the topic we are dealing with here: an elderly patient admitted to hospital which must be assessed for suitability for surgery [17,18].
