Focus on Frailty programme update July - September 2024
Overview
The Focus on Frailty programme is an improvement and implementation programme led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
The programme aims to improve the experience of and access to person centred and coordinated health and social care for people aged over 65 who are living with frailty. You can find out more information in the frailty change package.
We are working with six teams made up of NHS boards, health and social care partnerships (HSCPs) and GP practices.
Why focus on frailty?
The number of people aged 65 and over in Scotland is projected to grow by nearly a third by 2045 (National Records of Scotland, 2023).
Older people are more likely to live with frailty, experiencing a reduction in their physical reserves, and increasing their risk of sudden deterioration.
The financial and societal impact of frailty is significant. The additional cost of frailty to the UK healthcare system has been estimated at £5.8 billion. Health and social care services need to work differently to meet the needs of a growing number of people living with frailty.
Impact so far
All teams are making improvements in practice for people living with frailty, including improving identification and assessment of frailty and integrated care delivery.
All teams are considering spread, scale-up and sustainability of practice changes and these topics will be further explored at learning session 4 in November 2024.
Examples of early impact are:
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A sustained reduction in the length of hospital stay for people identified as living with frailty. (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde). |
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Three new hospital frailty assessment units have been established contributing to early identification of frailty, prompt geriatric assessment and timely discharge. (NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) |
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77% (120/155) of patients who received an occupational therapy wellbeing review reported improvements to their wellbeing. (South Ayrshire HSCP and NHS Ayrshire & Arran) |
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A community appointment day led to 30% of patients being discharged from the service they had been referred to without a need for further treatment. (Moray HSCP) |
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A frailty simulation session improved staff knowledge of identifying and assessing frailty from 5/10 to 8/10. (Perth and Kinross HSCP) |
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Medication reviews for people living with frailty led to an 11% reduction in medications. 25% of these medications had a high anticholinergic burden. (NHS Dumfries and Galloway and Dumfries and Galloway HSCP) |
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University Hospital Wishaw are testing a frailty practitioner role at the hospital front door which is supporting alternatives to hospital admission. 96 patients have been discharged without admission over five months. (NHS Lanarkshire) |
Progress this quarter
- A webinar on developing front door frailty services was held as part of the national frailty learning system with over 380 attendees. You can watch the recording on our website. 89% of evaluation respondents found the practice examples shared extremely or very useful.
- Site visits to five teams took place.
- Teams submitted their latest data and progress reports on 1 September.
- The delivery group met on 12 August.
- The advisory group met on 26 August.
Huge value in hearing what is happening in other areas and how people are bringing services together." Developing front door frailty services webinar attendee
Next steps (October to December 2024)
- Site visits continued in October.
- A webinar on medication reviews for older adults living with frailty took place on 3 October with over 400 attendees. You can watch the recording on our website.
- The delivery group will meet on 11 November.
- The end of programme celebration event will be held on 20 November.
- The advisory group will meet on 28 November.
Contact us
Email: his.frailty@nhs.scot