Sleep Patterns of Hospitalised Older Adults in an Acute Geriatric Unit
Systematic review of disparities in continuous glucose monitoring prescribing in older adults living with diabetes
Introduction Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is transforming diabetes care and its access should not depend on age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Updated NICE guidance in 2022 expanded NHS funding to include people with type 2 diabetes mellitus on insulin who meet certain criteria. Emerging evidence indicates that older adults are significantly less likely to be offered CGM. We aimed to systematically review prescribing of CGM in older age groups compared to younger ones. Methods PROSPERO registration: CRD420251104079 Databases: PubMed, Web of Science Inclusion criteria: studies that
Frailty Progression on General Surgical Waiting Lists: Does POPS Intervention Make a Difference?
Improving the consideration of resuscitation status and electronic upload of Do Not Resuscitate forms in an orthogeriatric ward
Establishing a business case for joint geriatrician and neurology assessments in an outpatient Movement Disorders clinic
Introduction: At our Trust a single Parkinson’s Specialist nurse manages a caseload of around 900 outpatients living with Parkinson’s in conjunction with a team of consultant neurologists. It is estimated around 60% of patients living with Parkinson’s will fall each year and patients living with Parkinson’s are known to be at higher risk of osteoporosis and osteopenia. A proportion of these patients will be living with frailty. In order to reduce harm, manage frailty and reduce unplanned hospital admissions we would suggest a more holistic assessment from a geriatrician may be beneficial for a
Building a Frailty SDEC - The Journey
Introduction The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), King’s Lynn serves a population of around 331,000 people. There has been exponential growth in the percentage of the population who are aged 65+. The RCP recognises that older people with complex needs would benefit from prompt review by specialist geriatric teams, and the BGS recommends that there is a role for a dedicated geriatrician embedded within assessment units focusing on frail older people. We implemented a number of pilot studies between 2021-2024, however, none provided sustainable excellent care models for frail patients. As such
Establishing a Foslevodopa–Foscarbidopa Service within a geriatric medicine Parkinson’s service
Introduction Our movement disorder service provides care for people living with Parkinson’s across 4 boroughs and 2 acute hospitals. There are predicted to be 1,671 people living with Parkinson’s in our area1. Foslevodopa-foscarbidopa is indicated for the treatment of advanced levodopa-responsive Parkinson’s with severe motor fluctuations when available combinations of medications have not given satisfactory results and apomorphine or deep brain stimulation (DBS) are no longer effective or not appropriate2. Method Our service aims to proactively identify patients who are living with advance
Shadowing Experiences for Care Home Nurses in East Kent
Introduction As part of the NHS England Ageing Well programme, social care nurses from care homes across East Kent were invited to shadow their local acute hospital frailty teams. The aims of the project were to strengthen understanding of the patient journey, enable nurses to identify transferable learning and enhance collaboration across organisational boundaries. Method Participants: Social care nurses from two care homes in East Kent. Format: One-day shadowing placements alongside the Acute Trust Frailty Team. Setting: Hospital frailty units and acute care wards. Feedback: Structured
Remote Falls Medication Review Service: Impact on Falls in Care Homes
Introduction Immedicare, a digitally-enabled, round-the-clock NHS clinical service provides remote support to care homes nationwide, with approximately a quarter of clinical consultations pertaining to falls. Falls in older people are often multifactorial, with medication being a significant modifiable risk factor. In July 2024, Immedicare’s pharmacy team launched a targeted, remote falls medication review service (FMRS) to support residents who had fallen and were prescribed at least one medicine identified as contributing to falls, according to the STOPPFall tool (Seppala et al, A&A, 2021)
Patient Centred Clinical Approach and Number of Falls: A Potential Model for Falls Clinics
Introduction A comprehensive geriatric assessment is recommended by the British Geriatrics Society with a comprehensive medical assessment, (CMA) being implied for the falling patients. But the data on its application and impact on falls is scanty. Methods We implemented a patient centred CMA to the patients referred to falls clinics, prospectively, to facilitate complex, multimorbid, multi-systemic medical diagnoses. The number of falls in the six months prior and six month after the interventions were compared and statistically analysed. The same interventions were carried out on the second
Improving Acute Kidney Injury Management in geriatric-relevant inpatient cohort: A Two-Cycle Quality Improvement
Barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for older ethnic minority adults in the UK: a scoping review
Introduction The number of people aged 60 years and over from ethnic minority backgrounds in the United Kingdom has increased by approximately 80% since 2011. Despite the principle of universal access within the National Health Service (NHS), this population experiences persistent inequalities in diagnosis, prevention and specialist care. Evidence addressing the intersection of ageing and ethnicity remains fragmented. This review mapped barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for older ethnic minority populations in the UK. Methods A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O
Improving Acute Kidney Injury Management in geriatric-relevant inpatient cohort: A Two-Cycle Quality Improvement Project
Evidence and Implementation: Innovative Fall Injury Technologies and Adaptive Fashion Clothing to Reduce Fall-related Trauma
Health care professional perspectives on vision screening in older adults who attend hospital following a fall: a focus group study
Background: The assessment and management of impaired vision is included in falls prevention guidance, however implementation is inconsistent. We conducted focus groups to explore the perspectives of Health Care Professionals (HCP) on vision screening in older adults attending acute hospitals following a fall. Methods: A focus group study was undertaken with HCPs from a single acute hospital trust. Semi-structured topic guides were informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Transcripts were first inductively then deductively coded using CFIR constructs
Optimising fall risk classification models in Parkinson’s disease utilising clinical and mobility outcomes
Background: Falls are a serious concern for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), often leading to hospitalisation, dependence and reduced quality of life. Effective fall management requires identification of those at risk. Although many clinical and mobility-related outcomes have been linked with falls, it remains unclear which selection of outcomes best discriminate fallers from non-fallers. Methods: Participants with PD were recruited as part of the ICICLE-GAIT study. Data presented are from the 54-month and 72-month follow-up. Participants were stratified into fallers and non-fallers based
Interventions and outcomes with a Parkinson’s Disease Fellow Home Visit Service
Improving Documentation of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment on Discharge from a Frailty Unit
Introduction Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) should be performed in all patients admitted to a specialist frailty unit. All interventions should be documented and communicated to community teams to allow continuous and safe care. A lack of CGA documentation was highlighted on our hospital discharge summaries. Method A discharge template was designed to include eight key aspects of CGA, including clinical frailty score (CFS), functional assessment, medication review, cognition, continence, bone health, postural blood pressure and advance care planning (ACP). We collected baseline data