Frailty Hub: Setting up and developing frailty services
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Useful information to help you set up a frailty service, with examples of best practice, service development, and business cases.
Knowing where to start when setting up a new service can be overwhelming. The following publications provide an overview of the key principles underpinning effective healthcare for older persons.
- Joining the dots: A blueprint for preventing and managing frailty in older people - BGS
The report provides an overview of the core features needed to support system leaders and commissioners of health and social care services in the development of high-quality integrated care systems for older people.
- Making healthcare systems fit for an ageing population - Kings Fund
This provides a useful start for local service leaders and practitioners wanting to understand the key components of improving care in an older persons healthcare journey. It outlines key standards of care, followed by the evidence based strategies to improve care and examples of effective local practice.
- Front door frailty: Advice on setting up services - BGS
In this document, the BGS sets out five principles that should underpin front door frailty services. It provides tips on establishing services from those who have been through the process.
- Fit for Frailty Part 2 - BGS
This publication is aimed at GPs, geriatricians, Health Service managers, Social Service managers and Commissioners of Services. As well as providing an overview of the political framework for the development of frailty services, it provides guidance on development, commissioning and management of services for people living with frailty in community settings.
- HOW CGA Service level toolkit
This toolkit is aimed at hospital staff within any discipline who want to improve the care for older people living with frailty in their service. It provides a step by step approach about how you can use quality improvement methodology to support both identifying and then addressing the problems within your service.
- Comprehensive geriatric assessment for frail older people in acute hospitals: the HoW-CGA mixed methods study
This mixed-methods study describes the development, implementation and evaluation of delivering a hospital-wide comprehensive geriatric assessment (HoW CGA toolkit).
- Foundations for hospital front door and community frailty services - Healthcare Improvement Scotland
These three resources can help organisations implement the Ageing and Frailty standards in Scotland.
- Foundations for front door frailty
This resource supports the development of frailty care pathways in acute hospitals. It outlines the core features and key enablers for front door frailty services. Organisations can use this document to benchmark their current service and identify areas for focused improvement.
- Key steps to setting up a front door frailty service
This resource provides practical guidance for organisations starting service improvement. It outlines the key elements which will increase the likelihood of a successful improvement journey.
- Foundations for community frailty services
This resource supports the development of community based frailty services. It outlines the core features and key enablers for designing services that enable people living with frailty to maintain independence and remain in the community where possible.
- Foundations for front door frailty
The following resources highlight different successful local initiatives that have led to an improvement in the care of older people.
- Acute Frailty Network
The Acute Frailty Network aims to optimise acute care of frail older people in England. These case studies explore different methods acute hospital trusts have improved the care of older persons living with frailty.
- Improving the flow of older people - Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Trust’s experience of the Flow Cost Quality improvement programme
This case study provides an example of how a team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust identified a local problem in the emergency pathway for older people and implemented effective change. This work was undertaken as part of the Health Foundation’s Flow Cost Quality programme.
- Integrated care for older people with frailty: Innovative approaches in practice - RCGP & BGS
A case study-based report that aims to support GPs and geriatricians in delivering integrated care within their locality, through sharing effective initiatives that have developed nationwide.
- Healthy ageing and managing frailty in older age strategy - Together we're better (Stoke-on-Trent)
- Unplanned Hospital Care Acute Frailty Service Specifications – Guidance Document (London)
This service specification helps Trusts develop their same day emergency care frailty service within integrated care pathways for those living with frailty. It provides a way to benchmark the local service as bronze, silver or gold with a view to continuous enhancement of services. (NHS Future account required - see here for more information).
Europe-wide approaches
This report is part of Joint Action ‘724099 / ADVANTAGE’ which has received funding from the European Union’s Health Programme (2014-2020). The FPA provides guidance on how to strengthen national/regional capacities and accelerate national/regional efforts to set up or further develop a frailty prevention policy in any MS to enhance healthy ageing. It is a practical tool to combat the inequities that currently exist in Europe not only between countries but also within them. The FPA offers guidance on approaches to:
- Identify national/regional areas of action on frailty and position these within the MS health priorities.
- Set national/ regional objectives and deliverables for the specific areas of action.
- Implement proven interventions to reduce risk factors for frailty.
- Implement proven interventions to manage frailty at public health level.
- Implement proven interventions to train the workforce.
- Measure progress and results, considering proposed indicators.
- Advance action beyond the health sector through multi-sector co-operation.
- Promote international collaboration and cooperation across regions within participant MS to transfer and scale-up best practices.
The FPA document is a reference document for any region, country or MS facing challenges of ageing and frailty.
