Frailty unit cuts down hospital stays for elderly

Eighty per cent of patients seen on the frailty ward are able to go home the same day

A new frailty service at a Surrey hospital has seen around 80% of elderly patients able to go home the same day they are treated.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) opened the Frailty Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit at East Surrey Hospital in October and it has seen more than 200 patients in its first few weeks.

Staff identify people who are frail earlier after they have been admitted to A&E and carry out comprehensive geriatric assessments and advanced care planning.

Angela Stevenson, SASH chief executive, said the new service increased "the numbers of people who are able to be discharged back to their own home, in turn, helping us reduce length of stay and bed occupancy".

Frail and elderly patients are given the care they need sooner, allowing them to return back to their own home, improving their recovery and preventing them from requiring an overnight admission to hospital, said the trust.

The unit works closely with partners including the South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb), to make best use of community services and alternative care pathways, including virtual wards.

This work will help reduce bed occupancy at the hospital by reducing the length of stay and admissions of patients, in turn, relieving pressure on the Emergency Department by reducing the time people have to wait for a bed.

On average older people stay in hospital 12 to 13 days

Enabling patients to return to the community as soon as it is safe to do so is considered important for improving patient recovery and wellbeing, and ensuring hospital beds are occupied only by people who need to be there.

Dr Iain Wilkinson, clinical director of frailty at SASH, said: "It is the right thing for patients and will help us link into the hospital as well as teams working in our local community.

"Each day that you stay in hospital the chances of you going home gets less because you get more poorly, your mobility gets less good."