Bury St Edmunds hospital is top in the country for hip fracture care
Left to right: Lisa Andrews, advanced nurse practitioner, Trixie Douglas, trauma nurse practitioner, Mr Samuel Parsons, clinical lead for hip fractures, Helen Dockerill, orthopaedic physiotherapist, and Kasia Bojarska, orthopaedic data and information officer. Just some of the multidisciplinary staff team involved in hip fracture treatment and care, including doctors, specialist nurses, trauma practitioners, and orthopaedic, elderly medicine, and rehabilitation teams Picture: WSHFT - Credit: WSHFT
West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds has been rated best for hip fracture care for the second year running.
It is the top hospital in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for high care standards for patients treated for a hip fracture, according to the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD).
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) achieved 93.6% - against an average of 58.7% - for meeting best practice criteria in 2018, including time to surgery within 36 hours of presentation.
Hip fractures are usually caused by a fall or an injury to the side of the hip and are one of the most common serious injuries for older people.
A team including doctors, specialist nurses, trauma practitioners, and orthopaedic, elderly medicine, and rehabilitation teams, ensures the patient is identified as soon as they attend the emergency department.
They work closely together to plan the care and ongoing rehabilitation needs of each patient, ensuring they receive the best standard of care as soon as possible.
Samuel Parsons, clinical lead for hip fractures at WSFT, said: “Although we do not rest on our laurels, and continuously aim to improve our patients’ outcomes and hip fracture care, we are very proud as a team to offer such high quality hip fracture care standards to our local population.
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“Each year we use the criteria set by the National Hip Fracture Database as a way to measure our trust’s effectiveness in this key surgical discipline.
“We are really proud to be top in the country for hip fracture best practice for a second year in a row. Patient care is our priority and it is our organised, hard-working, multidisciplinary team approach that enables us to deliver such an effective hip fracture service to our patients.”
Helen Boulton, trauma nurse practitioner at WSFT, said: “Hip fractures are often caused by falls, which are particularly common in older people, who may have reduced vision or mobility and balance problems.
“Serving an increasingly older population here in west Suffolk it’s important that we offer efficient, timely and high quality surgery, which is usually the only treatment option for hip fractures, along with holistic rehabilitation and care.”
