FRAILTY ward rounds have been introduced at James Cook University Hospital to help improve the care of older people following a traumatic injury.

TARN Best Practice Tariff now requires all patients aged 65 or over to have a Clinical Frailty Scale completed by an older people’s consultant within 72 hours of admission.

To get ahead of the game the trauma team at James Cook have implemented new ward rounds to see not only patients that are eligible for BPT, but any patient over 65 that has been admitted having sustained a traumatic injury. The ward rounds involve a bone assessment and liaising with therapists to try and identify any underlying signs of osteoporosis.

Preventative treatment and appropriate support can then be put in place.