3 October 2024

Patients living with frailty are spending less time in hospital following the launch of dedicated assessment units at Shropshire’s two acute hospitals.

Frailty Assessment Units were opened at both Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford in July.

Patients who attend the emergency departments or acute medical units are screened by dedicated Frailty teams, before being transferred to the units for comprehensive assessment and care by a specialist clinical team.

Within the first six weeks of opening, nearly 200 patients have been cared for in the units. Early data shows patients are spending fewer hours in an emergency department after arrival (more than three hours) and on average four days less time in hospital overall. An average of 75% of patients are also going back to their own homes and are less reliant on social care for discharge.

The introduction of the FAUs is part on ongoing improvement work being implemented by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, to improve both care and experience for patients using urgent and emergency care services.

Other improvements include:

  • A new frailty advice line for health partners including GPs and nursing homes to speak directly to the Trust’s Frailty Team for guidance and support, to avoid an unnecessary hospital visit
  • Additional triage facilities for children and young people in the Emergency Department at PRH. We have seen an increase in the number of young patients currently being seen at both hospitals within the national target of 15 minutes (the time to initial assessment). Adult triage times have also improved.
  • Dedicated nursing cover in the PRH Emergency Department waiting room to improve clinical oversight and communication to patients, which has received positive patient feedback.

Dr Saskia Jones-Perrott, Divisional Medical Director for Medicine and Emergency Care, said: “It is early days, but we are already seeing positive benefits of the Frailty Assessment Units on our more vulnerable patients who are being cared for in the right environment with the right specialist teams. The feedback from both patients and staff has been extremely positive and we will continue to build on this early work.

“We are also seeing sustained improvements in the time to initial assessment for both adults and our younger patients. This is so important as it means that patients arriving in our emergency departments are seen and assessed quickly, so they treated by the right service for their needs.”

Hayley Flavell, Director of Nursing, said: “We know we have much more to do to improve quality of care and experience for every patient but we are making steady improvements. A huge thank you to our fantastic teams who have been involved in delivering these improvements for our communities.”

Vanessa Whatley, Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for the Frailty for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System, said: “The Frailty Assessment Unit is an integrated approach to supporting frail people with urgent/emergency needs who would otherwise be admitted to hospital. Through this access to specialist review and therapy support, we will get more older frail people back home and, when that is not possible, we will simplify their admission and reduce their length of stay in hospital.

“With the winter months approaching and the additional pressures that will be placed on health and care services, the introduction of these units will help us support colleagues in emergency departments in managing demand and improving quality of care.

“Although, these units were only launched in July, we are delighted the units have been well received by staff, patients and their families. We are grateful to all our partners for their collaborative working to ensure the positive impact of this project.”