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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Room for one more?
— A review of the literature on inappropriate admissions to hospital for older people in the English NHS | | Author(s) | Rachel Thwaites, Jon Glasby, Nick le Mesurier, Rosemary Littlechild |
| Journal title | Health and Social Care in the Community, vol 25, no 1, January 2017 |
| Publisher | Wiley Blackwell, January 2017 |
| Pages | pp 1-10 |
| Source | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/spol |
| Keywords | Admission [hospitals] ; Accident & emergency depts ; Policy ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | The authors report findings of a review of the literature on emergency admissions to hospital for older people in the UK, undertaken between May and June 2014 at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham. The review sought to explore: the rate of inappropriate emergency admissions of older people in the UK; the way this is defined in the literature; solutions proposed to reduce the rate of inappropriate admissions; and the methodological issues which particular definitions of 'inappropriateness' raise. The extent to which a patient perspective is included in these definitions of inappropriateness was also noted, given that patient involvement is such a key policy priority in other areas of health policy. Despite long-standing policy debates, relatively little research has been published on formal rates of 'inappropriate' emergency hospital admissions for older people in the UK NHS in recent years. What has been produced indicates varying rates of inappropriateness, inconsistent ways of defining appropriateness, and a lack of focus on the possible solutions to address the problem. Significantly, patient perspectives are lacking; and the authors would suggest that this is a key factor in fully understanding how to prevent avoidable admissions. For each article found, the authors note rates on inappropriateness and location considered, the method for defining inappropriateness, and proposed solutions for inappropriate admissions. With an ageing population, significant financial challenges and a potentially fragmented health and social care system, the issue of the appropriateness of emergency admission is a pressing one which requires further research, greater focus on the experiences of older people and their families, and more nuanced contextual and evidence-based responses. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-170106237 A |
| Classmark | LD:QKH: LD6: QAD: 64A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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