The Royal College of Physicians Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP) has developed a series of patient and public centred resources to support better care.
Alexandra Feast describes a study which highlights how people with dementia experienced pain for a substantial part of their admission without being able to communicate this pain. It explores the relationship between pain, dementia and delirium.
General hospitals are designed to deliver safe, effective and often highly technological care. For people with dementia, however, these unfamiliar clinical environments can be frightening, disorientating and a threat to independence and wellbeing.
The aim of the "Behind Closed Doors" campaign is to raise awareness that people, whatever their age and physical ability, should be able to choose to use the toilet in private in all care settings.
The rate of older people undergoing surgical procedures is increasing faster than the rate of population ageing . Despite this progress, older surgical patients remain at increased risk.
Can it be used by nurses to determine whether staffing levels are safe on their wards?
Geriatrics is the largest specialty doing general medicine and providing acute medical care of patients admitted as emergencies. As general physicians, they share with other specialists in Acute/General Medicine the provision of the first 24-48 hours of emergency medical care of all adults.
Person-centred care, for those who are enthusiastic about it like me, can at times feel like a religion. To be a pure follower of this approach, it means respecting the holistic aspects of a person, including perhaps interests and beliefs.
It takes time to recuperate when getting over an acute illness but can ‘preventing deconditioning’ help? In a clinical context, we can define deconditioning syndrome as ‘A complex process of physiological change induced by inactivity that can affect multiple body systems and may result in decline in physical, psychological and functional abilities’.
There is a story told of a man walking along a beach. A big storm the night before had thrown up thousands upon thousands of starfish. A small boy was bending down and repeatedly picking up a stranded starfish and throwing them back into the surf.
Every trust must take action to identify and treat Sepsis, which costs 37,000 lives per year. Sepsis occurs when the body responds poorly to a bacterial infection, attacking its own tissues and organs, and while early treatment is effective, the condition is hard to identify.
Do you know how many people in your hospital are living with frailty? Do you know where these patients are in your hospital? Why does it matter?
One of my least favourite moments of my otherwise very enjoyable MDT meeting is when we come to discuss the new admissions on our rehab ward that week. There are two types of transfer which seem to be increasingly common. Let’s call them Mr Smith and Mr Jones…
I am Barry Walkden and I’ve been in post as a Dementia Support Worker for almost 5 years now and I can honestly say that no two days are the same.
GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time) is an NHS England programme which combines data analysis to identify variation between hospitals and providers (good and bad) with visits.
NHS has been in a crisis for a few years now and if anyone thinks it can’t get any worse, they are in for a shock. It is like an overcrowded bus which keeps picking up passengers at every stop where more people get in than that get out. The bus is jam packed with little space to manoeuvre, untidy, and is tipping dangerously.
Antipsychotic drugs are recommended for the management of distress caused by delirium when it is unresponsive to other de-escalation techniques. This class of medication is known to have many potential adverse effects, especially in older people with background cognitive impairment
This project provides a unique data set on the pathway of frail older people through secondary care, from assessment in A&E, assessment units, inpatient wards and supported discharge. The project gives insight into why this cohort of patients appear to be more prone to delayed transfers of care. The BGS has also worked with the NHS Benchmarking Network to develop a short service user audit which will be included in the project.
I have lost count of the number of times I have quoted this fact, I use it when teaching on frailty, and I have used it when assessing people in the emergency department to explain the risks of hospital induced deconditioning. I regularly hear other Geriatricians use this fact. It is emblazoned across much of the #EndPJParalysismaterial, and is quoted (unreferenced) on the NHS improvement website.
Emergency departments are often the safety net of the health care system where the mission is to rapidly evaluate, intervene and organise care. With ageing populations and the growing presence of older adults in EDs, this mission represents a significant challenge.
When I was asked to write about my experience of being porter in a large acute hospital, the first thought that came to my mind was pride.