2297 Impact of creation and subsequent expansion of the acute frailty team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead on patient outcomes

Abstract

Abstract Introduction An Acute Frailty Team pilot was launched in December 2022 at the QEH. The aim was to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and length of stay (LOS) by providing interventions in the Emergency Admissions Unit (EAU), through comprehensive geriatric assessment. Following the pilot’s success additional recruitment was made to the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and the service revaluated. The MDT consists of a Consultant Geriatrician, Specialist Frailty Practitioner, Frailty Fellow, Physiotherapist, Technical Instructor, Occupational Therapist, and Pharmacist. Method To allow comparisons a pre-pilot control group audit of 100 patients ≥65 with a clinical frailty score > 5 was undertaken. This data has subsequently then been compared to a phase-1 (Consultant Geriatrician, Specialist Frailty Practitioner team) audit of 121 patients and a phase-2 (full MDT) audit of 133 patients with the same parameters. Results The creation and expansion of the acute frailty team has reduced the average length of stay from 13.8 days, pre-pilot, to 9.4 days in phase-1 and subsequently been maintained at 9.56 days during phase-2. More frail patients are now being discharged from the emergency admission unit (EAU). Pre-pilot 7% of patients were discharged from EAU, increasing to 13% during phase-1 and 18.75% phase-2. 16% of patients were originally discharged within 72 hours of admission, this increased to 20% during phase-1 and 24.81% phase-2. This is also reflected in 7-day discharge data (37%, to 39% to 44.36%). Conclusion(s) MDT expansion of the acute frailty team at the QEH has resulted in improved recognition and holistic assessment of frail patients’ needs and reduced their length of stay.