A project to reduce the number of PIMs (potentially inappropriate medications) on an elderly care ward

"A systematic approach to ward rounds with a ward round checklist offers a rigorous method to reduce the prevalence of PIMs, and the frequency of adverse drug events. This has important implications in the wider context of growing pressures to deliver higher standards of cost effective clinical care."

Less is more: a project to reduce the number of PIMs (potentially inappropriate medications) on an elderly care ward
T H Aung, A J Beck, T Siese, R Berrisford
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207857.w4260

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Mortality meetings in geriatric medicine: strategies for improvement

"Mortality meetings are an essential part of junior doctor training and hospital clinical governance. There is a tendency for these meetings to be poorly organised, poorly focused and poorly attended, especially by disciplines other than doctors. In this improvement project we were able to make our mortality meetings more multidisciplinary and a better learning experience for staff."

Mortality meetings in geriatric medicine: strategies for improvement
J Dunbar, J George
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u202625.w3247

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Ceiling of care decisions at an older person's mental health unit

"The issue was that decisions around ceilings of care for patients were often not discussed or at least recorded in the electronic notes and as a result when reviewing deteriorating patients out of hours trainees would find themselves without any guidance on the treating medics opinion on what was in the best interests of the patient."

Ceiling of care decisions at an older person's mental health unit in Gloucestershire
P Slack, A Rose
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207618.w3050

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Nutritional assessment in elderly care

"We believe that improved patient outcomes and significant savings to the trust can be achieved, not only by ensuring that every patient has a MUST score documented, but that it is calculated correctly and the appropriate interventions are implemented."

Nutritional assessment in elderly care: a MUST!
M Frank, A Sivagnanaratnam, J Bernstein
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204810.w2031

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Confusion: delirium and dementia - a smartphone app to improve cognitive assessment

"The results of this study suggest that the introduction and use of a smartphone app for junior doctors increases the likelihood of older patients receiving a cognitive assessment for detecting delirium and dementia on specialist elderly and orthopaedic trauma wards."

Confusion: delirium and dementia - a smartphone app to improve cognitive assessment
S Sangha, J George, C Winthrop, S Panchal
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u202580.w1592

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Improving early recognition of delirium using SQiD

"Following awareness raising activities, the awareness and use of SQiD increased from 12.5% to 83% and 20% respectively. Incorporating the SQiD question into the care round form delivered 100% awareness and 50% use during testing."

Improving early recognition of delirium using SQiD (Single Question to identify Delirium): a hospital based quality improvement project
E McCleary, P Cumming
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206598.w2653

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A new settlement for health and social care

"A new settlement is needed for health and social care in England that breaks down the historic divide between the two systems and provides a much simpler path through the current maze of health and social care."

A new settlement for health and social care: Final report
K Barker
The King's Fund
September 2014

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Transitions at the end of life for older adults

"Development of a shared understanding of professional and carer roles in end-of-life transitions may be one of the most effective ways of improving patients’ experiences."

Transitions at the end of life for older adults – patient, carer and professional perspectives: a mixed-methods study
B Hanratty, E Lowson, G Grande, S Payne, J Addington-Hall, N Valtorta1, J Seymour
Health Services Delivery Research, 2014; 2(17)

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Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population

"Improving services for older people requires us to consider each component of care, since many older people use multiple services, and the quality, capacity and responsiveness of any one component will affect others."

Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population
D Oliver, C Foot, R Humphries
The King's Fund
March 2014


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Evaluating integrated and community-based care

"In this paper we outline the main community-based interventions we have evaluated and their impact, and identify nine points that may help those designing, implementing and evaluating such interventions in future."

Evaluating integrated and community-based care: how do we know what works?
M Bardsley, A Steventon, J Smith, J Dixon
Nuffield Trust
June 2013

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Preventing falls in hospitals: a toolkit for improving quality of care

"This toolkit focuses on overcoming the challenges associated with developing, implementing, and sustaining a fall prevention program."

Preventing falls in hospitals: a toolkit for improving quality of care
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
January 2013

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Delivering Dilnot: paying for elderly care

"The Government needs to be clear in its message that a reformed capped funding system is the most appropriate way of dealing with a broken social care system, a crisis that has Delivering Dilnot lasted over ten years."

Delivering Dilnot: paying for elderly care
P. Burstow (editor)
CentreForum
January 2013

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The match between institutional elderly care management research and management challenges

"Institutional care management research needs to focus more on challenges in integrated care, productivity, ICT and division of labor."

The match between institutional elderly care management research and management challenges - a systematic literature review
K Kokkonen, S Rissanen, A Hujala
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2012, 10:35

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The Prime Minister's challenge on dementia

"Our ambition is to support wider society to make the change to enable people who have dementia to be able to confidently go about their daily lives safely and free from stigma."

The Prime Minister's challenge on dementia: delivering major improvements in dementia care and research by 2015: a report on progress
Department of Health
November 2012

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