Background
A falls risk assessment includes the following: | |
1 | Identification of falls history. |
2 | Assessment of gait and balance. |
3 | Assessment of osteoporosis risk. |
4 | Assessment of perceived functional ability and fear related to falling. |
5 | Assessment of visual impairment. |
6 | Assessment of cognitive impairment and neurological examination. |
7 | Assessment of urinary incontinence. |
8 | Assessment (or recommended assessment) of home hazards. |
9 | Cardiovascular examination. |
10 | Medication review. |
11 | Encouraged to participate in a falls prevention programme. |
Methods
Hospital A | Hospital B | |
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Hospital catchment area | 18.3 million emergency department attenders in 2013 in England. | |
Catchment area of approximately 1.1 million people. | Catchment area of between 450,000 and 650,000 people. | |
Hospital size | More than 1500 beds. | Less than 700 beds. |
Number of ED attenders | Between 130,000 and 150,000 emergency department attenders. January–December 2013. 400–500 patients seen per day. | Between 80,000 and 100,000 emergency department attenders. November 2012–December 2013. 100–300 patients seen per day. |
City/town located: | ||
Average age of local population | Between 30 and 40. | Between 35 and 45. |
Male/female % representation of local population | Approximately 50/50 split. | Approximately 50/50 split. |
Ethnicity of local population | Between 60 and 70% born in England. | Between 80 and 90% born in England. |
Level of deprivation in catchment population. | Ranked in the top 20 most deprived areas in England. | Ranked below the 140 most deprived areas in England. |
Emergency department structure | The emergency departments comprised 3 sub-areas*: 1) Minors—an area in which patients with less serious injuries or illnesses were treated, 2) Majors—an area for treatment of non-ambulatory patients and those with potentially serious conditions; 3) ‘Resus’—for individuals who were seriously ill or injured. | |
Standard treatment process | 1) Patient presents. 2) Handover from ambulance crew (if at majors), or if at minors, present to receptionist and assigned to triage. 3) Patient triaged by an ED nurse. 4) Details input onto computer/written on whiteboard. 5) Patient seen by a junior doctor/advanced nurse practitioner (ANP), and a consultant, as required. 6) Patient receives treatment from nurse/healthcare assistant as directed, including investigations, e.g. ECG/blood tests. 7) If tests have been conducted, the results are assessed by a doctor/ANP to decide on the best treatment pathways. 8) Treated and discharged home/admitted, or transferred for further treatment (e.g. applying plaster cast) and then sent home/admitted. | |
Emergency facilities for older frail patients, which they could be referred to post ED discharge* | Emergency frailty unit. | N/A |
Job role: | |
1) Tell me about your job role. 2) What is your role with regards to emergency department care? | |
Context of the emergency department: | |
1) How do you find working within the emergency department?—asked in order to gain a general description with regards to any time pressure, etc. 2) Is there anything that you would change with regards to how care is managed in the emergency department?—potential barriers or enablers. 3) Do you think/in what ways do you think working within the emergency department context influences care?—as opposed to an inpatient ward, for example. | |
Guidelines generally: | |
1) NICE guidelines are developed to promote good health and patient care. How are guidelines followed within the emergency department? | |
NICE Falls guideline: | |
1) What is your role with regards to the management of falls in older adults? 2) Specific to falls in older adult guideline, what are the processes that you understand should be in place in emergency department care? 3) Do you think these falls guidelines are always put in place? 4) From your experience/opinion, what facilitates putting these falls guidelines into practice in emergency department care? 5) Do you think there are any barriers to following the falls guideline with older adult patients?-if yes: - What are the barriers you have experienced/witnessed? | |
Final points: | |
1) Have you got any other points you wish to add to this discussion of the management of falls in older adults within the emergency department? |
Results
Levels of adherence
Guideline recommendation number* Referring to recommendations summarised in Table 1 | |||||||||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
Number of times each guideline recommendation was adhered to (out of 27 episodes) | 25 | 22 | 6 | 22 | 18 | 20 | 6 | 24 | 27 | 1 | 15 |
% | 93 | 81 | 22 | 81 | 67 | 74 | 22 | 89 | 100 | 4 | 56 |
Determinants of practice
Communication
‘Unbeknown to the professional treating the patient, they had been taken straight to an observation unit. Staff-staff member communication was a concern’.(27- A)“Blood tests might be omitted. You just have to hope that doctors in other area(s) will pick up on these.”(2, Doctor, B)
Patient complexity
A patient with Alzheimer’s was found on the floor.‘Q - (To relative) if you had the option would you rather she was kept in hospital or went home?A - Relative stated that they needed to weigh-up the decision. With regards to Alzheimer’s they thought the patient would be better in their own environment, but with regards to their unsteadiness they would be better in hospital.’(19 - A)
Education and training
“I don’t necessarily think some of the staff within the department understand why they are doing it. Hopefully through education you’ll get people to do it meaningfully.”(3, Nurse, A)Patient presented with abdominal pains after slipping.Healthcare professional noted to (HM) that they did not think it was a fall and that it was a surgical problem; their understanding contrasted with the NICE definition.(20 - A)
“There are a lot of operating procedures, sometimes it varies with who’s in charge.”(4, Doctor, A)
“There are lots of guidance but not easily available, you have to do lots of searching.”(6, Doctor, B)
Influence of seniors
“You need somebody with clinical credibility to champion work.”(3, Doctor, A)“My guidelines would be whatever [seniors] asked me to do.”(7, Healthcare Assistant, B)
ED care processes
“So it’s down to the ‘busyness’ of it, it’s not built for purpose, you don’t have the facilities; there’s not necessarily appropriate handovers.”(5, Doctor, A)‘The department was busy, consequently the professional ran out of time when conducting falls assessments and focused on the patient’s injury.’(4 - B)
“I think the four-hour target is often not conducive in providing a full assessment to somebody old.”(3, Doctor, A)
Variation in ED staff and attitudes towards guidelines
“If you work in a teaching hospital then guidelines are quite prominent.”(8, Doctor, B)
“Perhaps the junior doctors don’t see the value of it [guideline] because they’re not here to deal with when people get brought back in.”(9, Nurse, A)
Cross-boundary care
Patient with multiple health problems, presented after falling in the bathroom.‘The relative stated that they had had an assessment before which had not helped as they were given a Zimmer frame, which is not practical in the house.The patient had also had a bad experience within the hospital previously, they were reluctant to accept recommended care.’(6 - B)“I think identifying somebody that is a risk of falls or is a ‘frequent faller’ is a key part, and you can utilise a community nurse.”(10, Healthcare Assistant, B)
Assessment of determinants
Determinant: | Why it was perceived to be more/less amenable to change. |
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More amenable to change: | |
Support from seniors | Agreement amongst senior medical and nursing staff on the management of falls could be reached in effectively led meetings, laying the foundation for care throughout the emergency department; this approach can be considered to be feasible. |
Education | Healthcare professionals need to be familiar with the guideline in order to adhere to them; the delivery of education is potentially feasible. In order to adhere to Falls guideline, healthcare professionals need to have an awareness of what a fall is, care requirements, processes in place, and of the Falls guideline specifically. |
Cross-boundary care (patient care both within and outside the boundary of the emergency department) | This determinant has the potential to be addressed through healthcare professionals and commissioners considering care pathways and alternative services to be used in conjunction with emergency department treatment of falls patients. |
Less amenable to change: | |
Definition of a fall | Categorisation of a fall at initial presentation influences patient care pathways and Falls guideline adherence. It is less amenable to change as in order for it to have the potential to improve, seniors need to be in agreement, and providing education needs to become possible. Therefore, these determinants need to be addressed first. |
Communication and team-working, patient acceptance of staff recommendations. | Communication has the potential to be addressed, but it requires support from seniors, educational interventions, and/or support from cross-boundary services and the appropriate commissioning of services. Whether or not a patient is receptive to guideline care may have an effect upon preventative techniques being recommended or employed as a method of Falls guideline adherence. |
Organisational factors within department organisation, high volume activity, access to resources, availability of medical records and targets. | Some organisational factors are less amendable to being addressed, because of practical issues, and because they are not under the control of the emergency department. |
Staffing and consistency of care. | The large numbers of staff employed within the emergency departments often meant that healthcare professionals worked with a variety of staff across shifts, and this influenced team-working. Also, individuals working together may have had different attitudes about Falls guideline care. Due to the large numbers of staff, it would not be feasible to address this determinant in ensuring consistency in teams working together. |