More patients surviving hip fracture due to improved care: new audit
by Pharmacy Life - Published on 14 September 2014
The
National Hip Fracture Database's (NHFD) 2014 report - in association with the British Geriatrics Society - has shown that
increasing numbers of patients are surviving after hip fracture.
The average 30-day mortality rate for hip fracture patients in 2013
dropped to 8.05 per cent, improving on the 2011-12 figure of 8.1 per cent. This small percentage change translates to a very substantial real-world impact: over 300
fewer people died within 30 days of hip fracture in 2013 than in 2011-12.
The NHFD report links these improvements to
better hip fracture care for patients, including the time taken to get patients to theatre and their access to orthogeriatric specialists. More patients (71.7 per cent) are getting to theatre ‘on the day of admission or the day after’ for surgery. Similarly, more patients (81.6 per cent) now have access to an orthogeriatrician,
compared with only a quarter of patients in 2009.
Dr Adam Gordon, Honorary Secretary of the British Geriatrics Society, welcomed the NFHD report results.
'This report shows how
outcomes for older patients with frailty can be improved when hospital specialists work
together with experts in the care of older people to deliver care in a timely and co-ordinated fashion,' he said.
'In addition, the collation of data through the National Hip Fracture Database has allowed us to show
year-on-year improvements in care, which ensure that these services will be protected within a cash-strapped NHS. The British
Geriatrics Society hopes that the lessons learned from hip fracture care can be extended to other medical and surgical specialties caring for older people in the near future.'