More older people are undergoing surgery, but postoperative outcomes are worse than for younger patients. This case study looks at the Proactive Care of Older People undergoing Surgery (POPS) team at Guy's and St Thomas's.
This article lays out UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on how healthcare professionals can best prepare for cold weather and how to look after older adults when temperatures drop below freezing.
This article lays out UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on how healthcare professionals can best prepare for hot weather and how to look after patients in extreme heat.
Although much progress has been made in defining best practice, setting standards for delivery and improving the processes of care, there is still variability; there is no consistent delivery or outcomes.
Presentations from 2021 South East and South West Thames Joint Region Meeting (4 CPD Points)
The assessment of driving risk can be difficult for clinicians. These Guidelines set out the responsibilities of clinicians to their patients, and provide a framework for thinking about the management of their driving safety.
The website 'Staysafe' has been created to signpost people to the wealth of resources and advice available to help them as they get older – including support on nutrition, exercise and accident prevention.
A quality improvement programme that uses specially trained nurses to introduce an evidence based care bundle to reduce inpatient falls
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are protections for adults who lack mental capacity to consent to, say, admission to hospital or a care home for treatment or care. Caroline Cooke and Premila Fade assess why they are being reviewed and the Law Commission's proposals.
Guidelines from NICE and Public Health England on prevention of falls and fractures, and the diagnosis and management of hip fractures.
Clinical guidelines on intravenous fluid therapy in adults in hospital, managing medicines in care homes and medicines optimisation, from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Can it be used by nurses to determine whether staffing levels are safe on their wards?
Feeling anxious from time to time is a normal human experience. When someone is anxious they might experience feelings of tension, nervousness, heightened awareness, fear or uncertainty, dry mouth and throat, and tightness in the chest.
What is mental capacity? What do we really mean when we ask if a patient has (or lacks) capacity? Capacity often depends on context. The ethical conundrum of mental capacity unravelled.
Fracture services often fail to respond to the true complexity of their older patients’ needs. The Care of Patients with Fragility Fracture (the 'Blue Book', available as a download) sets out best practice in the care and prevention of fragility fractures.
The UK is experiencing a cost of living crisis and older people are particularly vulnerable to the impact this has on their health. Age UK estimated that 1.1 million older households were in fuel poverty at the end of 2021. A year later and this figure has almost trebled. An estimated 8,500 people died last year in England and Wales as a result of living in cold homes.
As we pass the winter solstice and the days start to lengthen, it feels hard to believe we will ever leave ‘winter’ in the NHS. Back-to-back ‘crises’ for health and social care, a perfect storm of a continuing pandemic/pandemic recovery, a chronically under-funded and under-staffed health service and social care sector and a cost of living crisis mean that our patients are going to struggle even more than usual this winter.
Writing is a form of communication. Hence, from a very young age onwards, there is an emphasis on having good handwriting. We are taught how to write capital letters, lowercase letters and then how to join them up, beautifying them and making them legible.
He was sitting on the bed. He had presented to the emergency room with fever and shortness of breath and was labeled a PUI - “Person Under Investigation.” Every time he took a deep breath, I saw his chest wall retract between his ribs.
Every trust must take action to identify and treat Sepsis, which costs 37,000 lives per year. Sepsis occurs when the body responds poorly to a bacterial infection, attacking its own tissues and organs, and while early treatment is effective, the condition is hard to identify.