Elderly facing ‘unacceptable’ variations in care after falls

Elderly patients face “unacceptable” variations in the quality of health services for the care and prevention of falls and fractures, a damning report finds today.

An audit of nearly 10,000 cases finds in many areas there is a “major gap” between what NHS organisations claim to provide and what happens in practice.

The Royal College of Physicians report said a third of hip fracture patients did not receive pain relief within an hour of arriving in hospital, although in some places significantly more missed out.

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All hip fracture patients audited in Doncaster, Rotherham, Scunthorpe and Chesterfield received painkilling drugs but fewer than half were given them at Airedale, Bradford, Sheffield and York hospitals.

The report found osteoporosis treatment remained “substandard” for the majority of patients. Care home residents were failing to receive adequate services to reduce falls and fractures despite being at high risk.

The audit made a series of recommendations for improved care including routine screening in accident and emergency units of elderly people who have suffered falls and fractures to assess their risk of further falls and osteoporosis.

The clinical director at the Royal College of Physicians clinical effectiveness and evaluation unit, Jonathan Potter, said: “Once again it is starkly apparent that what organisations say they provide is not matched by what people receive.”

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Michelle Mitchell, charity director of Age UK, said: “It is extremely worrying then that in many areas of the country, people who have already broken bones are not receiving the treatment and support to avoid future injury, including the lack of referral to comprehensive falls prevention services.

“These Cinderella services of the NHS can help older people to avoid falling in the first place and so reduce the number of injuries that they might otherwise suffer.”

Every year 500,000 elderly people attend hospital following falls and 200,000 suffer fractures as a result of osteoporosis.