Greater support for frail patients
Ealing Hospital is piloting a new initiative to identify ‘frail’ patients so they can be better assessed and treated.
Dr Fiona Wisniacki, a Consultant in Emergency Medicine, said: “The majority of people coming into hospital are elderly and a substantial number are frail which brings its own vulnerabilities.
“We had an existing frailty service whose work was impeded by the pandemic and it was keen to regain momentum and strengthen its provision.”
Ealing is one of eight hospitals piloting the scheme across England which are following the same model of care based on the acronym FRAIL: Focus on the acute problem and find out how frail a patient is, Refer, Assess, Identify needs, Leave.”
The service’s priorities include improving the care of the frail older population, providing a co-ordinated approach to care, avoiding admissions and reducing length of stay, and ensuring a clinical frailty assessment is carried out within 30 minutes of arrival.
Fiona developed FRAIL as the National Clinical Lead for Same Day Emergency Care.