Abstract
The Frailty Hotline is a follow-up service designed to provide ongoing care and support to patients discharged from the frailty service. Patients who have previously been under the care of the frailty team are given a dedicated phone number that allows them to escalate non-urgent concerns regarding their health. This service ensures that patients continue to receive appropriate care and guidance while remaining in their home environment, reducing the need for unnecessary hospital visits.
This quality improvement project sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the Frailty Hotline in reducing avoidable ED visits and improving patient care. The PDSA cycle was conducted over a 15-day period. During this time, the frailty practitioners at the Royal Preston Hospital responded to a total of 47 phone calls. Details of the calls were recorded using a pro forma to ensure accurate information capture.
The majority of identified concerns centered around queries regarding patient management and issues related to patient symptoms and health. When a problem or concern was identified, actions were typically taken to address it. The majority of the actions involved providing advice to patients and seeking clinical advice from senior practitioners. A significant number of patients were also escalated to the Virtual Frailty Ward.
Out of the 47 phone calls received, 16 (34%) addressed patients' symptoms that could have potentially resulted in Emergency Department (ED) presentations. Of these 16 patients, 9 (19%) were escalated to the Virtual Frailty Ward, potentially preventing hospital admissions. One patient called 999 due to extreme pain and may have presented to the ED. There was no geriatrician available at the time to advise.
This highlights the critical role of the Frailty Hotline service in reducing unnecessary ED visits and hospital admissions. The Frailty Hotline service also played a vital role in improving patient outcomes by addressing a range of queries related to medications, symptoms, and pending investigations, which could have otherwise resulted in unnecessary phone calls to GPs and other services.