Care of the ElderlyDr James Betteridge

Speciality Registrar – General PracticeOctober 2012

Dear James,

If you had been charged with planning care for the elderly in Derbyshire, being mindful that you could have 4 grandparents between age 75-85, what essential elements would you insist on inclusion?

Jim PS You’ve got 30 mins for your talk and discussion

The Task and The Plan

• Population Statistics

• Requirements for elderly care and the logistical and financial challenges they bring

• Examples illustrating the need for “Joined Up Thinking”

• My vision…..• Discussion

The Facts• By 2035 the population of Derby

City and County will have increased by 18.6% to 1.2million

• By this time there will be 53% more people aged 65+ living in Derby City and 73.6% more people aged 65+ living in the County of Derbyshire

• More worryingly, in 2035 I will be 51!

Source: Derbyshire County Council

Requirements

• Primary Care– GP including District Nursing Provision– Therapeutics – OT, Physio, Audiology

• Secondary Care– Planned– Unplanned

• Social Care– Support at home– Residential/ Nursing Care

Primary Care• An estimated 4 million (36% of people aged 65-74 and

47% of those aged 75+) have a limiting longstanding illness.

• 16% of older people (65+) surveyed said they had experienced some difficulty in making a GP appointment

• The percentage of consultations undertaken as home visits fell from 22% in 1971 to 4% in 2006

• Older people are more likely than other age groups to receive a home visit by a GP. In 2006, 15% of GP consultations for people aged 75 and over were undertaken as home visits

• Every hour, over 50 older people are neglected or abused in their own homes by family members, friends, neighbours or care workers

Secondary Care

• Nearly one in five (19%) find it very difficult to get to their local hospital

• The number of emergency readmission for people aged 75+ in English hospitals in 2009/10 was 188,138, a rise of 88% since 1999/2000 86

• Each hospital bed costs on average £260 a day• Up to 60% of older people in hospital have mental

health problems or develop them during their stay• Up to 25% of all hospital beds are occupied with older

patients with dementia and they stay in hospital for longer than others with similar conditions

• In 2008, 32% of people aged 65 and over who were admitted to hospital were found to be malnourished at the time of admission

Social Care• In England, 453,000 people received home care

services in 2009• About 410,000 older people in the UK have an unmet

need for help with practical household jobs• There are approximately 420,000 elderly and

disabled people in residential care (including nursing)

• The residential care market is estimated to be £14 billion, of which the private (for-profit) sector is worth £9.9 billion

• The UK average annual fee for a single room in a private residential home is £26,104 (£502 per week). For a nursing home, it is £36,296 (£698 per week)

Joined Up Thinking #1 - Falls• About a third of all people aged over 65 fall each

year (which is equivalent to over 3 million)• Hip fractures are the most expensive osteoporosis

fracture with estimated costs per patient of £28,000

• Falls account for 10 – 25% of ambulance all-outs for people aged 65+, costing £115 per callout.

• The combined cost of hospitalisation and social care for hip fractures (most of which are due to falls) is £2 billion a year or £6 million a day

• Half of those with hip fracture never regain their former level of function and one in five dies within three months

• A falls prevention strategy could reduce the number of falls by 15 – 30%

Joined Up Thinking #2 - Loneliness• Half of all people aged 75 and over live alone• Half of all older people (about 5 million)

consider the television as their main form of company

• 12% of over 65s said they never spent time with their family

• 17% of older people have less than weekly contact with family, friends and neighbours, 11% have less than monthly contact

• People who took part in more health-maintaining and independence-maintaining behaviours were less likely to feel isolated and more likely to feel that their community was a good one to grow old in.

Betteridge Reforms 2012• Elderly patients need to be actively identified by their GP

practices• Opportunistic monitoring and health promotion should be

undertaken alongside management of acute illness, including assessment of mental health and monitoring for abuse.

• Chronic illness should be monitored regularly and, increasingly, in a primary care setting to improve ease of access. This may well be by a non-doctor HCP

• “Virtual Wards” could be used by GP practices to aide transition of patients between primary and secondary care services

• GPs should have increased access to community based rehabilitation beds to provide therapeutic input for patients that are currently admitted for “Social Sort Outs”

Betteridge Reforms 2012• Secondary Care should aim to offer more outpatient appointments

in a primary care location to improve access and DNA rates• A hand held personal care document +/- online equivalent could be

made available for patients to ease transition between services and reduce errors

• NHS organizations should actively promote and encourage schemes provided by voluntary/ not for profit organisation to help the elderly

• All healthcare professionals to receive increased and better training regarding care of patients with Dementia

• There needs to be a gear shift with regards to earlier discussion of end of life care and planning