Older People in Acute Care

From April 2017, the Older People in Acute Care programme joined with the SPSP Acute Adult programme to form the Acute Care Portfolio.

The vast majority of people in hospital are over the age of 65 and growing numbers of frail older people are admitted to hospital, often as an emergency. The number of emergency admissions to hospital among those aged 85 and over is rising and older people usually have longer stays in hospital, higher mortality, higher rates of re-admission and are more likely to be discharged to long-term care. Multiple morbidity and cognitive impairment increase with age and while age alone is not a predictor of frailty or delirium increasing age, long term conditions and acute illness all impact on the likelihood of an individual becoming frail or developing a delirium.

Two critical areas of focus for improvement work in the care of older people in acute care care are the identification and immediate management for older people with frailty and/or delirium. Click here to find out more about our Frailty at the Front Door collaborative.