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Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
- Author:
- GREENBROOK Sally
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2022
- Pagination:
- 12
- Place of publication:
- London
This report aims to reflect on the experiences of the pandemic from the specific perspective of older people's healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic will not be the last pandemic and, given our ageing society, it is unlikely to be the last pandemic that affects older people more than any other population group. We have aimed to highlight both the positive and negative aspects of the handling of the pandemic and have drawn out ten lessons that must be learnt by governments and healthcare organisations before the next pandemic. The report sets out ten lessons from the pandemic: 1. Treatment decisions should always be tailored to the individual patient and blanket decisions should never be applied to an entire patient group; 2. There is a need to ensure that a balance is achieved between protecting care home residents from a virus that could be fatal for them and also protecting the human rights of individuals to see their families and loved ones; 3. Services should be available and adequately funded to provide patients with the most appropriate care in the best place for them - for some patients, this will be hospital but for others, it will not; 4. During a pandemic, particular attention should be paid to the risk of contracting the illness in patients admitted to hospital for unrelated illnesses and measures must be taken to prevent this happening; 5. Planning for the response to a pandemic should involve experts on the population most affected by the illness in question - these experts should be involved at the earliest possible stage; 6. Clinical trials must include the populations most at risk and most likely to benefit from the treatments being tested - in the majority of cases, this will include older people; 7. Quick development and rollout of the vaccine was essential - during a pandemic, sufficient funding should always be made available to ensure that scientists are able to collaborate and develop vaccines quickly; 8. A time of great crisis can also bring great innovation - changes made during a crisis that are beneficial to patients should be retained; 9. Measures taken to curb the impact of a pandemic may have unintended but serious consequences on the health of many older people - these consequences must be identified as quickly as possible and mitigating action taken; 10. NHS workforce planning must cover three crucial elements - ensuring there are enough staff, ensuring all NHS staff have the skills they need to care for the ageing population and ensuring that staff are cared for mentally and emotionally and are supported to remain working in the NHS. The impact of not doing so may be catastrophic for individuals and society. (Edited publisher abstract)
Bringing hospital care home: virtual wards and hospital at home for older people
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2022
- Pagination:
- 10
- Place of publication:
- London
This report explores the potential benefits, limitations, and current scientific evidence to be considered when providing a safe, effective, and person-centred alternative to hospital inpatient care for older adults. It highlights how Virtual Wards are being funded and implemented; explains the various definitions of the term Virtual Wards as used in different parts of the UK; and describes the face-to-face care delivered by a multidisciplinary team, combined with some remote monitoring. The report summarises the current landscape on Virtual Wards and provides advice for decision-makers looking to set up such services for older people living with frailty. Recent scientific research has provided some evidence that hospital-level care in an individual's home environment may improve their care experience and outcomes and deliver benefits for patients, carers and health and care systems. The evidence base highlighting the potential benefits of Virtual Wards is growing but caution is needed when considering widespread implementation. The report recognises that this type of care will not be suitable for all patients and not all older people with acute conditions will want, or be able, to be cared for in such a service. For some patients, hospital will remain the safest place for them to be. However, feedback from older people using existing virtual ward services shows that many people welcome the option of receiving hospital-level care in the comfort of their own home, supported by family care and visiting professionals. Honest communication with patients and families about how the service works and what to do if the patient's condition deteriorates is vital to operating a successful service. (Edited publisher abstract)
Right time, right place: urgent community-based care for older people
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 7
- Place of publication:
- London
This document aims to describe the role of urgent care within the ecosystem of older people’s care and details some examples of how urgent care can be provided outside the hospital environment. It provides tips for BGS members who want to start providing this type of care to their older patients and calls on commissioners and governments to make the provision of care at or near to home easier for healthcare professionals and patients. The document outlines the offers and services currently delivered across the country in pursuit of a broadly similar aim to provide appropriate, timely, high-quality care when an older person experiences a crisis or urgent need. Options for alternatives to hospital include: Hospital at Home (H@H); urgent community response (UCR); Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC); Frailty Assessment Units (FAUs); Virtual wards. (Edited publisher abstract)
Ambitions for change: improving healthcare in care homes
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 14
- Place of publication:
- London
This report describes the care home sector across the UK as it currently stands and recent initiatives taken to improve healthcare for care home residents, including specific initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes how health and wellbeing has traditionally been supported in care homes and sets out what good healthcare provision in a care home environment should look like. The report sets out a few of the more common conditions which staff are required to support their residents to manage on a daily basis, including: cognitive impairment and mental health; end of life care in care homes; falls; nutrition and hydration; continence care and assessment; medicine optimisation. The report then details what good care in care homes looks like and what all older people living in a care home should expect from the staff looking after them, focusing on: person-centred care for care home residents; development of a skilled care home clinical workforce; providing hospital-style care in care homes; joined-up approach to data collection and sharing. The report makes 11 recommendations for local and national Governments and decision-makers to consider, including ensuring the NHS across the UK should work with care homes to roll out and fund programmes to enable enhanced healthcare services to be provided in all care homes. (Edited publisher abstract)
Capturing beneficial change from the COVID-19 pandemic: response from the British Geriatrics Society
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 18
- Place of publication:
- London
This report provides examples of the beneficial innovations that have been implemented across the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that they should be consolidated and retained as health care services start to resume business as usual. Some of the innovations take place at the interface between health and social care, giving an indication of how integrated care can move forward. The examples are organised into ten themes, covering: proactive anticipatory care for older people with frailty; urgent primary care response; specialist-led assessment and treatment at home; coordinated multi-agency support for care homes; person-centred advance care planning; age-attuned acute care; safe, effective and timely transfers of care; optimising rehabilitation and recovery; virtual clinics; and digitally-enabled care. For each theme, the report provides a short description of the innovation, one or two examples of this innovation being implemented and a brief outline of the benefits to patients and staff. The document concludes with details of the key enablers that are present throughout the themes and details on how these innovations can be sustained nationally to ensure that the lessons learned in the pandemic are not lost. (Edited publisher abstract)
COVID-19: Managing the COVID-19 pandemic in care homes
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Place of publication:
- London
Good practice guidance developed to help care home staff, and NHS staff who work with them, to support care home residents through the coronavirus pandemic. Sections cover: identifying residents who may have COVID-19 and how to respond; isolating residents; advance care planning; decisions about escalation of care to hospital; and supporting care home residents and staff.[First published: 30 March 2020; Last updated: 02 June 2020, version 3]. (Edited publisher abstract)
Effective healthcare for older people living in care homes: guidance on commissioning and providing healthcare services across the UK
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 4
- Place of publication:
- London
Updated guidance setting out principles of good practice principles for commissioning and providing healthcare to older people living in in care homes. It highlights the benefits for older people, for the local NHS and for local care homes as a result of having appropriate services in place. It describes the activities that will enable these outcomes to be achieved, and includes suggestions for how services can be monitored and evaluated to see if they are having a positive impact. The guidance is for commissioners, policy makers, service providers, and for anyone with an interest in ensuring that older people living in care homes have access to healthcare that meets their needs. (Edited publisher abstract)
Take six decisions for excellent healthcare and support for older people
- Author:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Pagination:
- 8
- Place of publication:
- London
Sets out six key decisions that the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) believe the incoming government should take in order to promote excellent healthcare and support for older people. This care should be person-centred, effective, efficient, safe, equitable and timely. The six key decisions are: to end the divide between health and social care; build capacity in intermediate care; invest (Edited publisher abstract)
Fit for frailty: part 2: developing, commissioning and managing services for people living with frailty in community settings
- Authors:
- BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY, ROYAL COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Pagination:
- 35
- Place of publication:
- London
Provides advice and guidance on the development, commissioning and management of services for people living with frailty in community settings. The first section introduces the concept of frailty and sets out the rationale for developing frailty services. The second section explores the essential characteristics of a good service. The third section considers the issue of performance and outcome measures for frailty services. The appendix to the report includes eight case studies of services which are operating in different parts of the UK. The audience for this guidance comprises GPs, geriatricians, health service managers, social service managers and commissioners of services. It is a companion report to an earlier BGS publication, Fit for Frailty Part 1 which provided advice and guidance on the care of older people living with frailty in community and outpatient settings. (Edited publisher abstract)
Fit for frailty: consensus best practice guidance for the care of older people living with frailty in community and outpatient settings
- Author:
- TURNER Gillian
- Publisher:
- British Geriatrics Society
- Publication year:
- 2014
- Pagination:
- 27
- Place of publication:
- London
The guidance will help them to recognise the condition of frailty and to increase understanding of the strategies available for managing it. In the guidelines, the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) calls for all those working with older people to be aware of, and assess for frailty. It dispels the myth that all older people are frail and that frailty is an inevitable part of age. It also highlights the fact... (Edited publisher abstract)