No Stone Left Unturned: Emergency Biliary Surgery in Frail Older Adults
Improving Patient Experience of the PRIME Service: Patient Satisfaction Survey
Getting It Right Beyond the Hip: Transforming Care for Non-Ambulatory Fragility Fracture Patients
Introduction: The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Non-Ambulatory Fragility Fracture (NAFF) Pathway and British Orthopaedic Association Standards for Trauma (BOAST) recommend comprehensive orthogeriatric care for older adults with NAFFs. To address historical gaps in care, a dedicated NAFF service was established at the Royal Preston Hospital, aiming to provide comprehensive geriatric assessment within 72 hours of injury, including falls assessment, establishment of ceilings of care, and optimisation of bone health. Methods: A quality improvement audit was conducted over three cycles
Preadmissions Management service (PreAMS) for preoperative assessment of frail elderly patients undergoing elective surgery at University Hospital of North Midlands
Introduction: There are an increasing number of older adults undergoing elective surgery, with frailty being a stronger predictor of post-operative outcomes. The Pre-AMS frailty clinic was set up to evaluate frail patients undergoing elective surgery within the broader Preoperative Assessment Clinic (POAC) pathway. Through Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), the Pre-AMS clinic evaluates frailty, multi-morbidity, cognition, poly-pharmacy, and functional status. This face to face, interactive joint assessment by anaesthetist and geriatricians with patients and families help early
Improving Perioperative Glycaemic Management in Vascular Surgery Inpatients: A Two-Cycle Quality Improvement Project
Introduction: Diabetes and poor glycaemic control are major risk factors for peripheral arterial disease, lower limb ulceration and critical limb threatening ischaemia (CLTI).(1) Poor glycaemic control is linked with worse postoperative outcomes and increased mortality.(2) This two-cycle quality improvement project evaluated perioperative glycaemic management and escalation in vascular surgery inpatients. Aim: To assess compliance with trust guidelines for vascular surgery inpatient diabetes management and evaluate the impact of newly implemented guidelines and staff teaching on glycaemic
Virtual Perioperative Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for Minimally Invasive Oesophagectomy: A POPS MDT Video Clinic Pilot
Introduction: Perioperative Medicine for Older People undergoing Surgery (POPS) provides preoperative Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) and tailored optimisation to improve perioperative outcomes and inform shared decision making. With challenges of an ageing population, increasing service demand and fixed Consultant Geriatrician resource and physical capacity in the hospital setting, there is a need for innovation in service delivery. Building on established virtual Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) led telephone clinic follow-up within the POPS department, the POPS multidisciplinary
Are NICE recommendations for cardiovascular and diabetes prevention appropriate in moderate-to-severe frailty?
Background: UK guidance increasingly promotes disease-focused prevention strategies. The 2026 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) advocates early initiation of metformin and sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, while recent NICE cardiovascular prevention guidance supports intensive blood pressure and lipid lowering. In contrast, British Geriatrics Society (BGS) pragmatic prescribing guidance recommends individualised targets and treatment deintensification in people living with moderate-to-severe frailty. Whether
Monitoring 30-day readmissions of older people: should this be adopted as a performance indicator for national clinical audits?
Introduction: The NHS routinely publishes data on hospitals’ 30-day readmissions. Readmission data is not yet collected by the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) or National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA). We examined whether such data might provide a useful care quality indicator. Method: Retrospective review of 30-day readmissions after hip fracture or emergency laparotomy between January-March 2025 using local NHFD, NELA and electronic health records. We examined reasons for and impact of readmissions, whether any might have been avoided, and how. Results: The NHFD recorded 122
Five Years of The Surgical Acute Frailty Team (SAFT): Improving Frailty Identification and Assessment in Unscheduled Surgery
Introduction: Older adults undergoing emergency surgical admissions are at increased risk of delirium, adverse outcomes and hospital induced dependency. In our hospital, the Surgical Acute Frailty Team (SAFT) was established in March 2020 to provide early frailty identification, comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and multidisciplinary intervention for older surgical patients based on the Centre for Perioperative Care Frailty Guidelines. Our aim was to establish the clinical activity of the service. Methods: A retrospective review of the clinical activity of SAFT from January 2021 to
Vascular POPS Pilot
Introduction Older adults undergoing emergency vascular surgery frequently exhibit frailty, delirium risk, and complex perioperative needs. We piloted a Perioperative care of Older People undergoing Surgery (POPS) service at the Somerset and North Devon Vascular Hub, adapting a general surgery POPS model for emergency vascular patients. Methods Patients aged >65 were referred if meeting one criterion: Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) ≥5, 4AT >4, or requiring complex decision-making support. Over three months, geriatric input included weekly ward rounds and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments
Optimising Blood Pressure Management in Older People Living with Frailty
Delivery characteristics of physical activity services in the community for people with dementia in Scotland: a scoping review
Quality improvement project to improve the process of pre-operative assessment of elective vascular surgery patients incorporating a new POPS (perioperative care for the older patient undergoing surgery) service
Proactive Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for Older Adults Living with Frailty on Surgical Wards: A QI Test of Change
Appropriateness of Ongoing Valve Clinic Surveillance According to Frailty Status
Planning Together: Shared Decision-Making and End-of-Life Care in Patients Not Undergoing Emergency Laparotomy (NoLap)
Introduction The National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) reports outcomes for patients who undergo surgery, but it also identifies a group of patients considered for laparotomy who did not proceed to theatre. This ‘NoLap’ cohort is often frail and at high predicted mortality risk yet receives far less scrutiny than the operative group. We audited these patients to assess how dying was recognised, how decisions were made, and what end-of-life care they received. Methods NoLap patients admitted to the Grange University Hospital in year 1 of the NELA were reviewed (n=18). Cases were assessed
Improving Heart Failure Management in Older People
Towards a novel multidimensional nursing intervention addressing frailty in people with heart failure: a modified Delphi study
Implementing Routine PHQ-2 Screening in POPS to Identify Persistent Low Mood Before and After Surgery
Retrospective Identification of NoLap Cases in the Grange University Hospital (GUH)
Introduction The NoLap arm was introduced in year 11 (Y11) of the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) to obtain structured data on decision-making and outcomes in patients presenting with inclusion diagnoses who did not proceed to surgery. However, identification of patients presenting with the inclusion criteria for NoLap has been poor and was hypothesized to have resulted in inadequate data collection for Y11. This analysis aims to retrospectively identify patients who fit criteria for NoLap audit inclusion in Grange University Hospital (GUH) in Y11 of NELA. Method All adult patients