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We're still top for hip fracture care
The National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) has once again rated our Trust as the top hospital in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for meeting best practice criteria for patients treated for a hip fracture.
Hip fractures are cracks or breaks in the top of the thigh bone (femur) close to the hip joint. They're usually caused by a fall or an injury to the side of the hip, and are one of the most common serious injuries for older people.
A multidisciplinary staff team, including doctors, specialist nurses, trauma practitioners, and orthopaedic, elderly medicine, and rehabilitation teams, ensures the patient is identified as soon as they attend the emergency department.
This progressive, integrated team works closely together to identify the care and ongoing rehabilitation needs of each patient, ensuring they receive the best standard of care as soon as possible.
WSFT achieved 93.6% against the best practice criteria in 2018, against an average of 58.7%. Records show that:
- 93.9% of patients had surgery on the day of, or the day after, admission (top score against an average 70.1%)
- 100% of patients received a mental test score on admission (average 95.5%)
- 99.7% of patients received a perioperative medical assessment (average 89.6%)
- 98.9% of patients received a physiotherapy assessment by the day after surgery (average 95.4%)
Mr Samuel Parsons, clinical lead for hip fractures, said: “Although we do not rest on our laurels, and continuously aim to improve our patients’ outcomes and hip fracture care, we are very proud as a team to offer such high quality hip fracture care standards to our local population.
“Each year we use the criteria set by the National Hip Fracture Database as a way to measure our Trust’s effectiveness in this key surgical discipline. We are really proud to be top in the country for hip fracture best practice for a second year in a row. Patient care is our priority and it is our organised, hard-working, multidisciplinary team approach that enables us to deliver such an effective hip fracture service to our patients.”
Helen Boulton, trauma nurse practitioner, added: “Hip fractures are often caused by falls, which are particularly common in older people, who may have reduced vision or mobility and balance problems. Serving an increasingly older population here in west Suffolk it’s important that we offer efficient, timely and high quality surgery, which is usually the only treatment option for hip fractures, along with holistic rehabilitation and care.”
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