Daily Medical Liaison is Associated with Reduced Length of Stay and Complications in Selected Patients Admitted to a Regional Vascular Surgery Service.

Older adults undergoing vascular surgery are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes by virtue of their vascular risk factors and medical comorbidities. This study aimed to determine the impact of daily medical liaison for patients aged 65 years and older admitted to a regional vascular surgery centre. This was a descriptive before-and-after study concerning 375 patients. The primary outcome measure was length of stay (LOS). Following intervention, we identified a reduction in mean LOS in the sample from 10.75 to 7.95 days (p = 0.635, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0-5 days) with a statistically significant reduction in mean LOS for "stranded" patients admitted for more than seven days (mean 7.84 days reduction, p = 0.025, 95% CI for mean difference, 1.5 to 14 days). These patients did not display elevated 30-day readmission rates (12/60 to 8/72, p = 0.156, 95% CI -3% to 21%). A non-significant reduction in postoperative complications was seen in all patients in the post-intervention cohort (1.09 to 0.86 per person, p = 0.181, 95% CI -0.11 to 0.56), reaching statistical significance in emergency vascular admissions (1.81 to 0.97 complications per person, p = 0.01, mean difference = 0.84, 95% CI 0.21-1.46). This study demonstrated reduced LOS and complications in selected older patients admitted under vascular surgery after the introduction of a daily medical liaison model. These data are amongst the first to reproduce randomised controlled trial findings in a non-trial setting. Subgroup analysis indicates that patients admitted with acute pathology and those with long LOS may benefit most from medical liaison where resources are finite.

Mortality rates in teaching hospital complex care wards in England: a retrospective audit.

OBJECTIVE: Existing data examining mortality rates following inpatient hospital admissions in the UK are either condition specific or examining all inpatient mortality based on single time point audits. This clinical effectiveness project aimed to assess mortality rates in patients admitted to complex care (CC) wards managed by geriatricians at Southmead hospital, Bristol. METHODS: Data were collected by the trust's audit department and analysed by the authors. All patients admitted to the four CC wards from July to December 2017 were included. Data collected included age, gender, date of admission, length of stay, date of discharge and date of death if applicable. RESULTS: 2673 patients were admitted to CC wards from July to December 2017. 42.72% of patients were men, and mean age of patients was 82.46 years. Mean length of stay was 16.68 days. 292 (10.92%) of patients died during the index admission. Overall mortality rates were: (1) 1 month: 11.34% (303 patients); (2) 3 months: 21.59% (577 patients); (3) 6 months: 30.15% (806 patients); (4) 12 months: 38.53% (1030 patients). 12-month mortality increased with age from 75 upwards (34.04% in 75-79 years, 42.94% in 85-89 years, 50.27% in 95-99 years, 66.67% in 100-104 years) but was similar in those aged 65-69 and 70-74 years (29.41% and 28.18%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: An improved understanding of mortality rates in patients requiring an admission under geriatricians may aid clinicians' ability to prognosticate. Appreciating that over a third of these patients are potentially in the last year of life provides further impetus to begin advance care planning discussions during inpatient admissions.

Afternoon ward rounds: bad for patients, bad for doctors?

Hospital medicine in the UK is under unprecedented pressure, with increasing demand on physicians as well as challenges in recruiting new doctors into the physicianly specialties. We sought to assess the prevalence of the afternoon ward round and its effect on those undertaking them. We sampled each hospital within our postgraduate region, surveying junior doctors working on inpatient medical wards. We surveyed roughly two-thirds of eligible doctors, -finding that 30% of juniors had some commitment, of varying frequency, to ward rounds beginning after 1.00pm. Of the -doctors involved in afternoon ward rounds, the majority felt they contributed to late finishes, delayed discharge of -patients, reduced team efficiency and reduced job -satisfaction. Just under 80% felt they were less likely to consider a career in hospital medicine as a result The afternoon ward round lives on, and we should not -underestimate its effect. Low junior doctor morale coupled with high work intensity can lead to burnout as well as -impairing the effectiveness of the clinical service. Clinical -leaders should consider leaving this practice in the past so we can cope with the challenges of the future.

Assessment and management of fracture risk in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with substantially increased fracture risk, particularly hip fracture, which can occur relatively early in the course of PD. Despite this, current national clinical guidelines for PD fail to adequately address fracture risk assessment or the management of bone health. We appraise the evidence supporting bone health management in PD and propose a PD-specific algorithm for the fracture risk assessment and the management of bone health in patients with PD and related movement disorders. The algorithm considers (i) calcium and vitamin D replacement and maintenance, (ii) quantification of prior falls and fractures, (iii) calculation of 10-year major osteoporotic and hip fracture risks using Qfracture, (iv) application of fracture risk thresholds, which if fracture risk is high (v) prompts anti-resorptive treatment, with or without dual X-ray absorptiometry, and if low (vi) prompts re-assessment with FRAX and application of National Osteoporosis Guidelines Group (NOGG) guidance. A range of anti-resorptive agents are now available to treat osteoporosis; we review their use from the specific perspective of a clinician managing a patient population with PD. In conclusion, our current evidence base supports updating of guidelines globally concerning the management of PD, which presently fail to adequately address bone health.

Doses under automatic exposure control (AEC) for direct digital radiographic (DDR) X-ray systems.

Current guidelines quote tolerances for automatic exposure control (AEC) device performance for X-ray systems as 'Baseline ± X %'. However, in the situation where a baseline figure has not yet been achieved, as in the case of commissioning assessments, this tolerance is not relevant. The purpose of this work is to provide mean doses for direct digital radiography (DDR) X-ray system, operating in AEC, against which comparisons can be made. Dose measurements have been recorded under AEC operation on 29 DDR detectors from three different manufacturers. Two different testing protocols were examined: (1) water equivalent phantoms in front of the DDR detector and (2) aluminium block at the tube head. The average patient exit dose, using the aluminium block was 4.6 µGy with the antiscatter grid in place and 4.0 µGy with the grid removed. Using the water phantoms, the average dose was measured at 17.1 µGy with the antiscatter grid in place and 5.4 µGy with grid removed. Based on these results, it is clear that different testing configurations significantly impact on the measured dose.