Older people receive poor fracture care

8 Nov 07
Older people face a postcode lottery of follow-up care after falling and fracturing bones, according to a national audit by the Royal College of Physicians.

09 November 2007

Older people face a postcode lottery of follow-up care after falling and fracturing bones, according to a national audit by the Royal College of Physicians.

Most primary care trusts and NHS trusts are failing to meet national standards as set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the National Service Framework for Older People on the care and prevention of falls, says the report.

Falls are the commonest reason for older patients to visit accident & emergency departments, and health care for these fractures costs £2bn a year. Hip fractures, which occur in about 60,000 people a year who fall, cost the NHS £1.7bn and are associated with up to 14,000 deaths.

The investigation into 157 trusts found that 80% of people with hip fractures spent more than two hours in A&E before being transferred to a ward, and 31% of operations for hip fractures were delayed beyond the 48-hour target.

The report, published on November 7, criticised the failings of local health services to give the appropriate follow-up osteoporosis treatment to most patients three months after injury.

Dr Finbarr Martin, associate director at the RCP's Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit and lead author of the report, said: 'Despite several years of national policy and clear evidence-based guidelines, local health services have much more progress to make in this vital clinical area.'

Pamela Holmes, healthy ageing programme manager for Help the Aged, said: 'It's a huge worry that most local health services charged with running falls services are still poorly co-ordinated.'

The CEEU believes these results are extremely worrying as good clinical practice can reduce death and disability from hip fractures and prevent future falls.

PFnov2007

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top