Geriatrician input into nursing homes reduces emergency hospital admissions

Abstract Nursing home residents are often very dependent, very frail and have complex care needs. Effective partnerships between primary and secondary care will be of benefit to these residents. We looked at 1954 admission episodes to our Trust from April 2006 to March 2009 inclusive. 3 nursing home...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2012-09, Vol.55 (2), p.331-337
Main Authors: Lisk, Radcliffe, Yeong, Keefai, Nasim, Ashraf, Baxter, Mike, Mandal, Bhaskar, Nari, Raad, Dhakam, Zahid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Emergencies - epidemiology
Emergency admissions
Female
Frail
Frail Elderly - statistics & numerical data
Geriatric medicine
Geriatricians
Geriatrics - organization & administration
Homes for the Aged - organization & administration
Hospitalization
Hospitals
Humans
Internal Medicine
Length of Stay
Male
Nursing homes
Nursing Homes - organization & administration
Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data
Primary Health Care - organization & administration
Secondary Care - organization & administration
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Summary:Abstract Nursing home residents are often very dependent, very frail and have complex care needs. Effective partnerships between primary and secondary care will be of benefit to these residents. We looked at 1954 admission episodes to our Trust from April 2006 to March 2009 inclusive. 3 nursing homes had the highest number of multiple admissions (≥4). Four strategies to reduce hospital admissions were used at these nursing homes for 3 months. An alert was also sent to the geriatrician if one of the residents was admitted so that their discharge from hospital could be expedited. The project was then extended for another 4 months with 6 nursing homes. The results showed that geriatrician input into nursing homes had a significant impact on admissions from nursing homes ( χ2 (2) = 6.261, p < 0.05). The second part of the project also showed significant impact on admissions ( χ2 (2) = 12.552, p < 0.05). Furthermore, in both parts of the project the length of stay in hospital for the residents was reduced. Geriatricians working together with co-ordinated multidisciplinary teams are well placed to manage the care needs of frail, elderly care home residents.
ISSN:0167-4943
1872-6976
DOI:10.1016/j.archger.2011.10.014