bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
13 Amending Admission Protocol to Reduce Proton Pump Inhibitor-Induced Hyponatraemia on A Specialist Hip Fracture Unit
Authors: Darnell R , Clements B , Reeve E , Singh N
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Hyponatraemia is a common electrolyte disturbance amongst elderly patients. Defined as a sodium concentration below 135 mmol/L, the BNF cites hyponatraemia as a ‘rare’ side effect of Omeprazole, a common proton pump inhibitor (PPI). In elderly patients, hyponatraemia can have significant morbidity.

On our Hip Fracture Unit (HFU) at St Helier Hospital, all patients are commenced on Omeprazole on admission. We conducted a quality improvement project to reduce the incidence of PPI-induced hyponatraemia by altering standard protocol from Omeprazole to Ranitidine.

Methods

Phase 1: Retrospective analysis identifying incidence of PPI-induced hyponatraemia, defined as sodium concentration below 133mmol/L on two consecutive readings and resolving on switching to Ranitidine (Group A: n=86).

Phase 2: Identifying incidence of hyponatraemia following administration of Ranitidine from admission (Group B: n=62).

Exclusion criteria: Patients already on gastric protection or hyponatraemic on presentation. Chi squared analysis to establish statistical significance for risk of hyponatraemia associated with omeprazole.

Results

Total number of patients was 148. Age range 60-101 years (median 82 years). Incidence of PPI-induced hyponatraemia in Group A was 10.5% (9 cases). All resolved on switching to ranitidine.

Following change in admission protocol to Ranitidine (Group B), incidence of hyponatraemia was 1.6% (1 case). The chance of developing hyponatraemia with Omeprazole was significantly higher than with ranitidine (P=0.0454).

Conclusions

10.5% of admissions to the HFU experienced PPI-induced hyponatraemia. The European Medicines Agency defines side effects occurring at greater than 10% as very common. Whilst 45% of patients were on medication associated with hyponatraemia on admission, the absence of hyponatraemia at presentation and biochemical response when switching to ranitidine, demonstrates this is a significant side effect of PPIs. Given the increased morbidity associated with hyponatraemia, particularly in frail, elderly patients, amending protocol to ranitidine for gastric protection has the potential to reduce harm and improve patient outcomes.
17 Improving Frailty Identification and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) Completion on the Wards
Authors: Verma D , Bonora F , Walker R , Kaneshamoorthy M , Bafadhel L
Published: February 2020

Introduction

The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is known to deliver substantial and measurable health improvements to frail older people, including increased independence and a reduction in mortality.1 The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) can detect older adults at higher risk of complicated course and longer hospital stay.2 Despite the known benefits, previous audits has shown poor documentation on geriatric wards at Southend Hospital. Therefore, we devised a Quality Improvement Project to improve the uptake of both these.

Methods

A total of two Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles were completed where CGA completion and CFS documentation was audited. Each cycle lasted two weeks (25 patients). Qualitative feedback was obtained from the members of multidisciplinary team to aid improvements. The baseline audit was based on the introduction of a 2-page ward proforma for all new patients. The first intervention was an improved 2-page ward-proforma. The second intervention was a single page ward-proforma.

Results

Originally, 40% of new patients admitted onto the ward had a CGA assessment and CFS score. After the first intervention, 79% (19) patients had a CFS score and a CGA assessment. 21% had a full CGA completed and 58% had partial CGA. Feedback included wanting a single page proforma to increase uptake. Questions needed to be more unambiguous and more tick boxes. After the second intervention 100% (25) patients had a CFS score and a CGA assessment. 40% (10) had a full CGA completed and 60% (15) had a partial CGA. Feedback include incorporating the ward round documentation to avoid repetition.

Conclusions

The results show that by using a focused, concise and user-friendly proforma, uptake of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and Clinical Frailty Scale can be significantly increased, bringing substantial and measurable health improvements to frail older people admitted to elderly care wards.

References

1. Welsh TJ, Gordon AL, Gladman JR. Int J Clin Pract. 2014;68(3):290–293.

2. Juma S, Taabazuing MM, Montero-Odasso M. Can Geriatr J. 2016;19(2):34–39.
23 Earlier Therapy Intervention in the Emergency Department to Improve Clinical Outcomes for Fallers Aged 65 and Over
Authors: Roberts F
Published: February 2020

Purpose

To improve clinical outcomes for fallers aged 65 and over presenting to the emergency department through earlier therapy intervention and multidisciplinary focussed assessments.

The intended benefits to the older person and service were for:Older adult fallers to be referred more quickly for a therapy assessment.Older adults to spend less time immobile on an emergency department trolley.Timely multidisciplinary discharge plans being formulated in line with national guidelines.Increased numbers of older adults receiving holistic comprehensive geriatric assessments.

Methods

The quality improvement project was carried out using the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle. Three iterative PDSA cycles were carried out over the course of the project to deliver simple, proactive interventions developed as a result of local baseline data analysis as well as stakeholder and root cause analysis. These interventions were all aimed at increasing the visual presence of the therapy team within the emergency department.

Results

The project resulted in an increased referral speed of fallers aged 65 and over for assessment, which led to increased numbers of older adult fallers receiving holistic, multidisciplinary assessments. 120% more adult fallers were seen in January 2019 compared to the previous year, and 58% more fallers were seen in February 2019 compared to 2018.

The earlier intervention by the therapy team also led to more older adults up and moving sooner, which had positive effects in terms of maintaining their dignity.

Conclusions

The quality improvement project found that more older adults aged 65 and over admitted to the emergency department with a fall can receive holistic, multidisciplinary assessments through the introduction of small, simple interventions aimed at increasing the proactivity and overall visual presence of the physiotherapy team.

The team are providing care to a larger number of older adults, improving their functional independence, dignity and quality of life and giving them an overall more positive experience.

The ED model of care is traditionally nursing and medical led but what this improvement project shows it that it is essentially the collaborative nature of the multidisciplinary team that can lead to better clinical outcomes for older adults attending the emergency department.
31 Understanding of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Among Fifth Year Medical Students
Authors: Perera D , Jones A
Published: February 2020

Introduction

There are 191 foundation programme jobs in geriatrics in the North East.1 Students often don’t receive teaching sessions on the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). It is an assessment foundation trainees use on a daily basis on the geriatric ward and the acute take.

Methods

We designed a series of teaching sessions for fifth year medical students, delivered by different members of the multidisciplinary team. A pre- and post-session questionnaire assessed their understanding.

Results

Nine students completed the pre-session questionnaire:22% were able to define CGA11% identified the different components22% identified the target population, the benefits of CGA and the members involved44% offered solutions to obtaining a history from patients with confusion100% identified the barriers to carrying out CGA

Seven students carried out the post session questionnaire; the table below represents the number that answered correctly.

Conclusions

The majority of foundation trainees will have at least one job in geriatric medicine and participate in the acute take. The average age of hospital admissions has been rising for years,2 highlighting the importance of being able to accurately and thoroughly assess the older population. The initial questionnaire demonstrated the limited understanding that fifth year students had on the comprehensive geriatric assessment. Following sessions by different members of the MDT there was clear improvement.

The sessions covered: general overview of CGA; session by the frailty pharmacist; functional assessment by physiotherapy team; cognitive assessment by the dementia and delirium team; and life as an F1 on geriatric medicine. Positive feedback was received, emphasising the improvement in confidence in preparation for foundation training.

References

1. Oriel website: https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/FND.

2. NHS digital Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity 2015–16.
39 Care Home Liaison Role- Bridging the Gap Between Acute Hospitals and Care Homes
Authors: Sendall C , Wright P , Downes R
Published: February 2020

Introduction

There are over 400,000 people over 65 in UK care homes, three times the number than that in acute hospitals. They are amongst the frailest in our community, with average life expectancy of 15months once in the home. Their needs are often complex and challenging, which when unmet, often result in unwanted and unnecessary hospital admissions.

Imperial College Healthcare Trust (ICHT), along with funding from Health Education England (HEE), have introduced a care home liaison nurse. The aim is to bridge the boundaries, making a significant difference to cross organisation communication and support.

Methods

The care home liaison nurse manages a frailty liaison service with the largest local nursing care home. This home has 140 residents with complex needs. The care home liaison nurse provides a point of contact for advice, guidance and support for individual patient pathways, she provides face to face assessment and treatment or verbal advice. In addition, the nurse supports discharge from the acute setting. This direct contact allows rapid access to specialist advice, and aims to build confidence both within the care home team and within the acute team, that the patients’ needs can be met in their own surroundings.

Results

The preliminary data demonstrates a positive impact this role is having both to the acute trust and most importantly patient’s experience. Comparing ICHT data from April-May 2018 to April-May 2019 it showing that the number of avoidable admissions has decreased from 54.3% to 37.5%, length of stay when patients are admitted has decreased from 11.7 days to 6.5 days, and the number of patients with an advanced care plan has risen 14.9%. Feedback from nursing staff at the care centre as well as that from patients and families has been overwhelmingly positive.

Conclusions

The role is still in the pilot phase. Given the already positive impact it is hoped that it will continue and expand into other care homes and extra sheltered accommodations.
45 Implementing A Frailty at the Front Door Service in the Emergency Department
Authors: McGurn B , McDicken J , McKee H , Docharty D , Duffty A , Bailey M , McCallum G , MacInnes B , Morrow K
Published: February 2020

Background

University Hospital Hairmyres is a small District General Hospital in Lanarkshire Scotland. We have an active Care of the Elderly Department with a well-established Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) team of Advanced Nurse Practitioners, supported by Consultants. This team delivers Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) to frail older people in acute medical receiving as well as offering liaison to medical, surgical and orthopaedic wards.

Local problem and intervention: Our patients were not always being managed by the correct professionals in a timely manner, leading to delays especially in the Emergency Department (ED). We set up a Frailty at the Front Door (FAFD) service to address this, commencing July 2018. Supported by additional consultant sessions, we re-focused the ACE team on assessing and managing frail patients in the ED. The aim was to get the right patient to the right place at the right time and to manage acutely ill people at home where this was safe. Where admission was required we aimed to admit directly to a specialty bed, bypassing acute receiving wards.

Methods

We routinely collect important data including number of frail patients, %patients receiving CGA within 24 hours, number of discharges. To assess the impact of our change we analysed the data by plotting on run charts and statistical process control charts. In addition we assessed the effect on referrals from medical specialties and the number of direct-to-specialty admissions.

Results

After the 22 July 2018 we noticed a significant increase in patients screened for frailty, and a significant increase in discharges. We were able to reliably sustain over 95% of frail patients getting CGA within 24 hrs. There was an increased use of hospital at home. There was a reduction in referrals from medical wards (median = 10/week before, 5/week after intervention). Between August 2018 and May 2019 we were able to admit 163 patients directly to specialty beds. There was no change in re-admission rate.

Conclusions

We successfully changed our service to have consultant delivered Frailty at the Front Door, assessing more frail patients. Most importantly, we have an improved patient pathway, both managing more people at home but also reducing ward moves by achieving direct to specialty admissions. CGA can be safely delivered in the ED.
48 Specialist Physiotherapist Leading in the Frailty Revolution in Ambulatory Emergency Care at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
Authors: Greensitt B
Published: February 2020

Background

The Ambulatory Assessment Unit (AAU) at the John Radcliffe Hospital aims to provide excellent care for complex patients with varying range of medical presentations. It sees over 50% of the acute take in operational hours, with over 40% of AAU patients over the age of 70. Staff feedback consistently identified a suboptimal service provided to the frail group within this patient cohort. A dedicated physiotherapist specialising in older people living with frailty joined the team in October 2018 to address this.

Aims

Early identification of patients with frailty attending the unit Improve staff understanding of frailty to enhance patient care Assess patients to either enable a patient to return home safely or support ambulatory pathway Refer to community services that can support the patient and enable them to live well after hospital attendance Review the impact of the specialist physiotherapist’s role

Methods

Introduction of frailty identification as per frailty team guidance Frailty questionnaire to ascertain baseline understanding and learning needs to develop staff training Assess patients using a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Raise staff and patient awareness of community support services available within the community Data collection to review interventions taken, bed days saved and re-attendance rates

Results

129 new patients were seen in a 4-month period. 85% returned home the same day; 64% had their ambulatory pathway supported with therapy intervention and 21% had an acute admission avoided directly due to therapy. 15% were admitted to an acute bed for safety 60% of patients were referred to community services and 50% were signposted to a range of community and support services The re-admission rates for therapy related reasons within 7 days and 30 days were 0% and 4% respectively. 38 bed days were saved with a calculated cost saving of £15,162

Future service delivery and conclusions

There is ongoing work to obtain patient experience data for those who had their admission avoided directly due to therapy intervention. A training programme on frailty for all members of the MDT is to be developed. A dedicated therapy service in an ambulatory setting has a role in ensuring that patients’ needs are met in the most appropriate place and enhances their quality of life after hospital attendance.
50 Cognitive Assessment of Patients As Mandatory Part of MDT in A Community Rehabilitation Hospital
Authors: Gupta S , Milner S , Shah S
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Undiagnosed underlying cognitive issues have an impact on progression with rehabilitation. Early diagnosis of these is beneficial to the patient as it can offer them early treatment and advance planning for their future care.

Methods

Patients transferred to our rehabilitation wards from other specialities often do not have a routine cognitive assessment done. This has a negative impact on their rehabilitation goals and discharge planning. We hence routinely assessed cognition for all the patients transferred to our rehabilitation unit across two sites for 3 months. In the weekly MDT, we discussed in detail the cognition of each patient, taking into account not only the doctor’s view, but also nursing and therapists. Once a concern was raised, we investigated them fully with blood tests, imaging and MOCA or ACE-R.

Results

56 patients were diagnosed as having cognitive issues. Average age was 81.67 years. Of them 32.14%were from surgical specialities and the rest from other sub-specialities of medicine.

In the MDT cognitive concerns were raised 73.2% by therapists, 66.1%by nurses and 60.7% by doctors.

Of the concerns raised, 87.4% of patients were diagnosed with some form of underlying dementia or cognitive impairment. 55.4% were started on treatment. Remaining was either palliative deemed unsuitable for treatment or needed more detailed input from community psychiatry team on discharge.

75% were for follow up with the mental health team on discharge, 7.14% by the Parkinson’s specialist and the rest by the own GP.

All diagnosis was notified to the patient, next-of-kin and the GP

Conclusions

Routine multidisciplinary approach to cognitive assessment helps us in new and prompt diagnosis of dementia, offer appropriate treatment and plan ahead for the future.
52 A Community Cure for Frequent Reattenders: Developing An Interface Geriatrics Service
Authors: Davies O , James S
Published: February 2020

Topic

Setting up an interface geriatrics service in a seaside area with a large elderly population. Many elderly patients are readmitted due to the challenge of managing their chronic health conditions in the community. These patients are frail, with frequently exacerbated chronic conditions causing regular readmissions. We noted that treatment was rarely changed during these admissions and patients were not uniformly managed.

Aims

Aims for this project were to improve care for older people, reduce readmissions and produce clear patient care plans.

Interventions

Our first PDSA cycle involved implementing geriatrician presence at community MDTs (involving social services, GPs, intermediate care teams, and various others). This generated home visits to several patients, with a mix of acute and chronic issues. We offered Advance Care planning where appropriate to these patients. We noted several patients were repeatedly discussed at MDT. This brought into focus frequent attenders who were usually well-known to the community. In the next cycle we introduced ‘frequent attender’ plans for these patients, ensuring a unified approach to their management. Subsequent cycles involved geriatrician presence at the ‘frequent attenders’ steering group, and further links with community teams. Our primary intervention has been Advance care & frequent attender plans offering tailored management for complex patients. These are completed by a geriatrician discussing patients wishes for treatment and future care.

Improvements

Readmission rates show up to 90% reduction in admissions/ED attendances for patients following care plan implementation. Feedback from families and patients is positive – the service is ‘pragmatic and supportive’, delivering ‘empathetic care’.

Discussion

Implementing an interface geriatrics service highlights the importance of caring for frail patients in their preferred place of care, reducing unnecessary/inappropriate hospitalisations. Geriatrician presence at community MDTs has improved care by offering prompt access to medical advice and review of complex patients. It highlights patients presenting frequently to services, allowing us to work with patients and families to improve management. A frequent attender list generated by the hospital helps target patients for whom intervention will give significant benefit. We plan to extend this further by working with nursing homes that have high conveyancing rates. The service is being extended to more areas within our region, and we are working with GPs and care homes to further offer advance care planning to vulnerable and frail patients.
54 A Quality Improvement Project on the Recording of Stool Charts
Authors: Perera D , Kaneshamoorthy M , Burdon Z , O'Brien A
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Change in bowel movement is a common complaint in frail patients, which can be indicative of conditions such as constipation, infection or malnutrition. Without prompt action, this can result in increased length of stay. The recording of stools can be variable. This quality improvement project was to improve stool chart completion rate and staff confidence.

Methods

We conducted two Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles over three months. We surveyed multidisciplinary staff confidence using Likert scales covering each element on the Bristol stool chart. We then reviewed patient stool charts. The first intervention was a poster. The second intervention was the addition of a sticker to the charts to help staff more easily identify them in the patient’s bedside notes. Staff-wide emails were sent to inform every one of the interventions and key stakeholders including ward managers were asked to hand this over.

Results

44 multidisciplinary staff were interviewed and 217 individual stool charts assessed over a 3 month period. 43% of stool charts were not filled in as directed after the first cycle. Posters improved staff confidence in filling out the charts from 72.3% to 92.3% after the second cycle, while 61% of stool charts came to be filled in correctly - over the initial 57%. Healthcare assistants consistently scored the highest in terms of believing charts to be up to date being whereas doctors remained the most cynical. There was little sustained change in stool chart completion rates after three PDSA cycles. Eventually, after both interventions, completion rates returned to baseline.

Conclusions

Stool chart completion rates can be improved in the short term, but sustainability is a challenge. Factors contributing to this include the variable number of agency nurses. Further improvements include teaching at the nursing induction.
56 Quality Improvement Project on the Bowel Charts in An Elderly Care Ward in Basildon University Hospital
Authors: Hakim R A , Ali M , Wijenyake I
Published: February 2020

Background

To improve the rate of documentation on bowel charts on an elderly care ward with a significant percentage of patients suffering from dementia.

Importance

As a junior doctor working on an elderly care ward with patients who often had memory problems and were unable to recall their bowel patterns, it was extremely challenging to establish whether a particular patient has constipation or diarrhoea.

Constipation in an elderly patient can lead to multiple complications like urinary retention, intestinal obstruction and often decreased oral intake.

Methods

An audit was carried out to see the rate of completion of the Bowel charts on the ward.

Only about 23% of the bowel charts on the ward were complete in the initial survey.

Then interventions were introduced in steps and three more audits were done.

At each step, we were able to show how the interventions introduced changed the degree of completion of the bowel charts.

Outcome

We have seen a marked improvement of 37% since the start of the project 5 months ago. From 23% to 60% completion of bowel charts.

There appeared to be a sustained change only falling short at the weekends (due to staffing issues)

Overall awareness had increased vastly.

We were able to make a measurable change and improvement in the quality of care provided.
62 Geriatric Surgical Liaison Staff Perspectives of Geriatric Care Before and After Introduction of An Embedded Service
Authors: Shah K , Kyzy R , Pittaway H
Published: February 2020

Introduction

National evidence demonstrates that older people having surgery, both in the elective and emergency setting, have more adverse outcomes postoperatively when compared with their younger counterparts (1). National reports have recommended daily input from a geriatric team for older patients having surgery (2). At our hospital we have introduced a geriatric surgical liaison consultant as a formal post to ensure daily geriatric input or review for patients over the age of 70 or comorbid younger patients as requested. The aim of this study was to review perspectives across the multi-disciplinary team on care provided to these patients before and after introduction of the surgical liaison team.

Methods

We created a 10 part questionnaire, which was distributed amongst all members of the multi-disciplinary team, asking them to rate confidence out of 10 in management of comorbidity, polypharmacy, discharge planning, pain assessments and nutrition. These data were then analysed to produce median scores for each category before and after the introduction of the service. We compared the change in scores between the foundation year 1 (FY1) doctors and the remainder of the respondents.

Results

The below table demonstrates the median scores across all 36 respondents in their confidence with the assessment and management of the 10 key domains before and after the liaison service was introduced:

Conclusions

Universally within our survey, staff reported improvement in all 10 key indicators of care of older patients on surgery with the introduction of a geriatric surgical liaison team. Greatest benefit was seen within the FY1 group.

References

1. McVeigh TP, Al-Azawi D, O'Donoghue GT, Kerin MJ. Assessing the impact of an ageing population on complication rates and in-patient length of stay, Int J Surg, 2013, vol. 11 (pg. 872–5).

2. Wilkinson K. An age old Problem: A Review of the Care Received by Elderly Patients Undergoing Surgery: A Report by the National Confidential Enquiry Into Patient Outcome and Death. London, 2010.
63 Quality Improvement Project: Should We be Doing More or Less Ct Head Scans in the Health Care of Older People Department?
Authors: Munir M , Shouter T , Tay H S
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Older people are likely to have more CT head scans given their multiple co- morbidities, being on anticoagulants, and increased falls. The aims of this quality improvement project (QIP) were to identify the number of patients who had CT head scan, the reason/indication of it, the number of patients who had new finding/s on it, actions taken on new findings, and whether the management plan was altered because of the CT scan.

Methods

Medical notes and CT head scan reports of all patients admitted to the Health Care of Older People department from April to September 2018 were reviewed to evaluate the indications of CT head scans, new findings, and management plans following the findings.

Results

461 (10.7%) out of the 4323 patients discharged from the healthcare of older people department during April to September 2018 had CT head scans during admission. Frequent indications for CT head scans included delirium, falls and head injury. Only 46 (9.9%) patients had new finding/s on the CT head scan, and action was taken on 26 (56.5%) of these patients. The CT head scan changed the management plan of only 17 (3.6%) patients. Please see Table for more details.

Conclusions

By using our clinical judgement, following NICE guidelines on head injuries, educating our colleagues on the criteria for requesting a CT head scan, taking collateral histories about patients’ cognition and ascertaining the mechanism of fall, we can lessen the financial burden on the NHS and minimise the radiation exposure to our patients.
74 Effects of Community Falls Prevention Service Closure on Ischaemic Heart Disease Attendances in Secondary Care: An Interrupted Time Series Approach
Authors: McCarthy A , McMeekin P , Anderson G , McCarthy S , Parry S W
Published: February 2020

Background

In 2009 we implemented a novel multidisciplinary, multifactorial falls, syncope and dizziness service model utilising proactive, primary care-based screening (≥60 years). Participants underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment, while 25% of the 4032 service participants had exercise training. All had additional lifestyle advice on exercise, alcohol intake, weight loss and smoking cessation. The preliminary outcomes of this approach have been previously reported, with occult atrial fibrillation, murmurs, ECG-evident ischaemic heart disease (IHD) etc reported to GPs for further action.1 Funding was withdrawn and the service closed on 31/01/2014. We examined IHD secondary care attendances with and without service provision.

Methods

Patients: North Tyneside residents ≥60 years at time of closure of the service in January 2014, who were presented acutely to secondary care with IHD using an interrupted time series method. ICD-10 coded IHD numbers were determined (Hospital Episode Statistics from 01/02/2012[date of a change in coding compared to service commencement in 2009] until 31/05/2017) including 25-months with, and 40-months without, service provision.

Results

The Table summarises the change in IHD +/- service provision; there was a significant reduction in IHD non-elective admissions during both time series’, but the reduction was significantly lower without service provision.

In addition, immediately following the service closure there was an initial increase in IHD complications of 18.4% (p=0.059) followed by an increase in the time trend of 2.7% (p=0.029), resulting in a 0.6% post-service monthly reduction in IHD complications.

Conclusions

Disinvestment in this service resulted in a slowdown in the underlying reduction of IHD diagnoses in secondary care. However, further research is needed to control for patient-level characteristics, the economic impact and to look at the effect of the service on other cardiovascular diseases.

Reference

1. Parry SW. JAGS 2016; 64 (11):2368–2373.
78 Does Time ‘Out of Programme’ Offer Increased Academic Output? The South East London Geriatrics Training Programme Experience
Authors: Woodward F , Nedungadi A , Birns J
Published: February 2020

Introduction

In contrast to other medical specialties, trainees in Geriatrics have historically provided an increased contribution to clinical workload in General Internal Medicine and a reduced output of academic achievements. More recently, development of non-clinical skills has been recognised to have similar importance to clinical skills and the South East (SE) London Geriatrics Training Programme has thus supported trainees in applications for Out of Programme (OOP) opportunities to optimise career progression.

Methods

Doctors who had undertaken specialist registrar training in the SE London Geriatrics Training Programme at any time between 2011 and 2019 were sent a questionnaire to assess whether they had completed time OOP and whether they had been awarded research grants, published papers in peer-reviewed journals, had abstracts accepted for presentation at conferences, and/or published book chapters during their training programme. Chi-squared and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare data between registrars who had completed time OOP and those who had not taken time OOP.

Results

77 (24 male; 53 female) registrars completed training in the SE London Geriatrics Training Programme between 2011 and 2019. 71 registrars (92%) completed the questionnaire, of whom 31 (44%) completed time OOP. In total, registrars were awarded 15 research grants, published 86 papers in peer-reviewed journals, had abstracts accepted for 184 conference presentations and published 20 book chapters. A notably increased proportion of registrars who took time OOP had an output of research grants, papers published in peer-reviewed journals, abstracts accepted for presentation at conferences and/or book chapters respectively compared with registrars who had not taken time OOP (23% vs 5% ; 61% vs 23%; 84% vs 33%; 45% vs 5%). This equated to a combined academic output in 94% of registrars who completed time OOP compared with 48% who did not (p <0.001).

Conclusions

A very strong association existed between registrars in Geriatrics taking time OOP and academic achievement substantiating the training programme’s aspiration to support development of non-clinical skills that may be helpful to trainees in their future careers. It would be worthwhile further work being undertaken in this area in other regions.
82 Virtual Reality Home Visit Simulation: Pilot Study
Authors: Bell C , Mellows C , Rogans-Watson R , May-Miller H , Heitz E
Published: February 2020

Introduction

There are multiple drivers to move healthcare into community settings, including people’s own homes. Traditional healthcare training, particularly medical training, is largely hospital-based, and hospital-based models of care. Few professions have explicit training in how best to assess an individual at home, and the additional elements to examine when visiting an induvial in their own home. To meet this training need Croydon Health Services were successful in a bid for funding to develop training to meet this gap. With this funding, a programme was developed and after attempts at simulation home visits in the simulation centre, a virtual reality (VR) home visit scenario was devised and filmed in the community using a professional actor to simulate a housebound individual. The recording was then professionally edited by a specialist VR team to maximise its effectiveness including interactive educational elements.

Methods

A pilot study examining the acceptability of the virtual reality home visit scenario was designed. A user group of medical staff with limited community experience participated in undertaking the virtual reality scenarios, delivered via Samsung Note 8 devices combined with Samsung Gear VR headsets. Feedback was received from participants by standardised paper-based surveys.

Results

7 responses were obtained. 100% of respondents described the scenario as easy to use, as well as agreeing that the same experience could not be gained from watching a standard video of the same scenario. 100% of respondents felt that the on-screen information was helpful.

Feedback on areas for improvement suggested a desire for greater interactivity of other aspects of home assessment, and a desire to improve interactivity with the simulated patient, including history taking.

Conclusions

Virtual reality home visit simulations are an acceptable and effective tool to introduce new concepts to staff. Further development should aim to maximise interactivity in the scenario and explore options for greater interaction with the simulated patient. Further role out of the virtual reality is planned for local and regional training sessions.
83 A Deficit Accumulation Frailty Index Predicts Mortality in Older South Africans: Findings from the HAALSI Study
Authors: Barker F J , Davies J I , Gomez-Olive F X , Kahn K , Matthews F E , Payne C F , Salomon J A , Tollman S M , Wade A , Walker R W , Witham M D
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Few studies have investigated frailty in older people in sub-Saharan Africa, yet such information is vital to prepare responses to rapid population ageing. We aimed to derive and test a cumulative deficit frailty index in a population of older people from rural South Africa.

Methods

We analysed data from the Health and Ageing in Africa: Longitudinal Studies of an INDEPTH Community (HAALSI) study, which enrolled participants aged 40 years and older nested within the Agincourt Health and Demographic Survey Site, South Africa. We created a 32-variable cumulative deficit frailty index using questionnaire (illnesses, symptoms and activities of daily living), physical performance and physiological indices, and blood test results. Each variable was dichotomised to 1 (deficit) or 0 (no deficit). The frailty index for each individual was calculated as the mean of all frailty variables. Frailty categories were defined using cut-offs from the UK electronic frailty index: 0-0.12 (non-frail), >0.12-0.24 (mild frailty), >0.24-0.36 (moderate frailty) and >0.36 (severe frailty). Cox proportional hazards models, both unadjusted and adjusted for age and sex, were fitted to test the association between frailty status and all-cause mortality.

Results

We analysed data from 3989 participants, mean age 61 years (SD 13); 2175 (54.5%) were female. The mean follow-up period was 17 months; 1464 (36.7%) were non-frail, 2059 (51.6%) had mild frailty, 402 (10.1%) had moderate frailty and 64 (1.6%) had severe frailty. A total of 135 (3.4%) died. Adjusted Cox models showed worse frailty category was associated with higher risk of death compared with non-frail individuals: hazard ratios 1.94 (95% CI 1.23, 3.07) for mild frailty, 3.25 (95% CI 1.86, 5.68) for moderate frailty, and 5.50 (95% CI 2.44, 12.40) for severe frailty.

Conclusions

Frailty measured by a cumulative deficits index is common and predicts mortality in a rural population of older South Africans.
85 A Cross-Sectional Study Assessing Agreement Between Self-Reported and General Practice Recorded Health Conditions Among Community Dwelling Older Adults
Authors: Hale M D , Santorelli G , Brundle C , Clegg A
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Self-reported data regarding health conditions are utilised in both clinical practice and research, however, their agreement with general practice records is variable. The extent of this variability is poorly studied among older adults, particularly among those with multiple health conditions, cognitive impairment or frailty. This study investigates the agreement between self-reported and general practice recorded data among such patients and the impact of participant factors on this agreement.

Methods

Data on health conditions was collected from participants in the Community Ageing Research 75+ (CARE75+) study (n=964) by self-reporting during face to face assessment and interrogation of the participants’ practice health records. Agreement between self-report and practice records was assessed using Kappa statistics and the effect of participant demographics using logistic regression.

Results

Agreement ranged from K=0.25-1.00. The presence of ≥2 health conditions modified agreement for cancer (odds ratio, OR:0.62, 95% confidence interval, CI:0.42-0.94), diabetes (OR:0.55, 95%CI:0.38-0.80), dementia (OR:2.82, 95%CI:1.31-6.13) and visual impairment (OR:3.85, 95%CI:1.71-8.62). Frailty reduced agreement for cerebrovascular disease (OR:0.45, 95%CI:0.23-0.89), heart failure (OR:0.40, 95%CI:0.19-0.84) and rheumatoid arthritis (OR:0.41, 95%CI:0.23-0.75). Cognitive impairment reduced agreement for dementia (OR:0.36, 95%CI:0.21-0.62), diabetes (OR:0.47, 95%CI:0.33-0.67), heart failure (OR:0.53, 95%CI:0.35-0.80), visual impairment (OR:0.42, 95%CI:0.25-0.69) and rheumatoid arthritis (OR:0.53, 95%CI:0.37-0.76).

Conclusions

Significant variability exists for agreement between self-reported and general practice recorded comorbidities. This is further affected by individuals’ baseline demographics. This study is the first to assess frailty as a factor modifying agreement and highlights the importance of utilising the general practice records as the gold standard for data collection from older adults.
94 What are the Components of Care Offered By POPS (Perioperative Medicine for Older People Undergoing Surgery) Services Across the UK; A Targeted National Survey
Authors: Topley K , Jasper E , Partridge J , Dhesi J
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Over the past five years the number of Perioperative medicine for Older People undergoing Surgery (POPS) services in the UK has increased.1,2 This expansion has occurred in response to the needs of an older, multimorbid surgical population with drivers for change coming from national reports and audit results. Different models of care have emerged; this study aimed to describe in detail the surgical specialties, components of care and staffing as delivered by current UK POPS services.3,4

Methods

An electronic ten-question survey was sent to 31 acute NHS trusts, purposively selected from the British Geriatrics Society POPS network and previous survey respondents.

Results

Responses were received from 23 of 31 trusts (71%) with key results in Table 1. Eighty-three percent of respondents provided a geriatric-consult service, 13% a shared-care model and 4% had ceased their service due to inadequate funding. The surgical specialties covered included; general surgery (18/23), vascular (12/23) and other including urology, trauma, gynaecology (9/23). Team structures varied with 26% of geriatricians working independently and only 23% having dedicated allied health support. Forty-one percent of services were surgically funded, 36% medically funded and 23% from both directorates.

Conclusions

The predominant model of care remains a geriatric-consult service. The evidenced-based ‘shared-care’ model previously only in operation at a large teaching hospital has now been replicated in two smaller hospitals. A previously described model involving patients transitioning from surgical to geriatric medicine teams was not seen in practice in this study.4 In line with the NHS’ vision of rationalising and scaling innovation, this survey highlights the growing need to establish a standardised POPS model across the UK.

References

1. Partridge J. Age and Ageing. 2014; 43: 721–4.

2. Joughlin A. Age and Ageing. 2019; 48: 458–62.

3. Shipway D. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology. 2014; 24: 78–92.

4. Howie S. Clinical Medicine. 2018; 19: 189.
96 Will Routine Frailty Identification by GPS Improve Patient Care? A Review of the 2017 GMS Contract For General Practitioners (GPS) Using Pestle Analysis Tool
Authors: Kaneshamoorthy M
Published: February 2020

Introduction

It is well established in the literature that frailty is associated with high health costs (Bock 2016, England: BioMed Central). Early identification improves patient outcomes. The 2017 GMS contract for General Practioners’ (NHS England 2017) had tried to implement this. This is a result from the government wanting to improve care for frail patients from the “Five Year Forward Review”. This is first policy worldwide to introduce a policy on frailty screening (Reeves, 2018, BMJ, 362, pp. k3349). Majority of frail patients’ first contact with the NHS is through Primary Care. However, with ever reducing number of GPs and increasing work burden, is it appropriate to ask GPs to undertake this?

Methods

This review uses the policy analysis tool PESTLE (Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) (Visconti 2016, Corporate Ownership and Control,13), to assess the implications of this new contract obligation on GPs and patients.

Results

Once frail patients are identified, it is advised that they are reviewed by GPs annually. Whether this actually benefits patients are not clear (Page 2017 British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 82(3), pp. 583–623). The evidence for interventions being cost-effective is also inconsistent (Hamilton 2017, BMJ, 358, pp. j4478). Alternative methods include implementing a nurse-led community frailty service, has shown some benefit in Netherlands (Bleijenberg 2017, JAMDA). Clinical Pharmacist can aid with medication reviews and focusing on Geriatrician “outreach” clinics in primary care can improve patient care and outcomes (Goldstein 2014, CJEM, 16(5), pp. 370). Due to the work burden, GPs are often seen to be reactive rather than proactive (Goodwin 2010, The King’s Fund). The shift in focus on frailty can simulate more constructive dialogue between primary care, secondary care, patients and their carers. The BMA has also tried to reassure GPs this is not an added burden, but this is controversial (BMA 2017).

Conclusions

To successfully implement such a policy, emphasis on clear objective outcomes and strategy is needed. There is a risk of frailty identification becoming a tick box exercise.
100 Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment in Vascular Surgery Patients: Preliminary Results of A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Houghton J , Nickinson A , Nduwayo S , Bridgwood B , Pepper C , Rayt H , Gray L , Haunton V , Sayers R
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Single-centre studies have shown a high prevalence of undiagnosed cognitive impairment in patients undergoing vascular surgery. The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of cognitive impairment in vascular surgery patients.

Methods

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed of studies reporting cognitive impairment in vascular surgery patients (PROSPERO registration: CRD42019134684). Databases searched included: Medline, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL, PsychINFO and Scopus. Studies were excluded if they: did not use a validated cognitive assessment tool, included patients with asymptomatic or sub-threshold (for treatment) disease, or excluded patients with cognitive impairment. Quality of included studies was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa scores (NOS), risk of bias was assessed using the ROBINS-E tool, and quality of evidence assessed using GRADE criteria. A pooled estimate of prevalence was calculated using the inverse-variance method separately for carotid artery disease (CAD), lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD), and studies including patients with multiple vascular surgery presentations. Data were pooled using random effects models and estimated prevalence presented with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Subgroup analyses were performed by cognitive assessment tool used.

Authors of 24 studies meeting inclusion criteria that did not report numbers of cognitively impaired patients were contacted to enable inclusion: responses are awaited.

Results

After de-duplication of search results, 7,169 records were screened and 11 studies (911 patients) included in the meta-analysis. Nine studies were deemed high quality (NOS ≥7) however 8 studies had a serious risk of bias. Only one study explicitly stated provision for recruiting patients without capacity. Six different tools were used to assess cognitive function (MoCA, MMSE, ACE-R, HDS-R, Mini-Cog and a global cognitive score). Two studies found an association of cognitive impairment with post-op delirium whilst one did not, and a further study showed an association with increased length of stay.

Pooled estimate of prevalence of cognitive impairment in CAD patients was 38% (95%CI 17%, 62%; 7 studies), and in “vascular surgery patients” was 61% (95%CI 47%, 74%, 3 studies). Only one study reported prevalence of cognitive impairment in LEAD patients alone of 19% (95%CI 14%, 24%). Quality of evidence was moderate to very low.

Conclusions

Cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in vascular surgery patients highlighting the need for close collaboration between vascular surgeons and geriatricians.