A call for collaboration…

Cassandra Leese is a Nurse, Clinical Supervisor and a wannabe dog owner.  She occasionally remembers to tweet @contrarylass

In today’s economic climate, when health and social care are really feeling the crunch, I often find myself feeling morose about the future. Day after day we see the terrible pressures our overstretched services are under, read about the heartbreaking death of another promising doctor burnt out from battling it out in secondary care; or hear about another valuable service making drastic cuts. And selfishly, I’m rather cross that all this seems to have come at a time when I’m incredibly excited to have finally found my place in the nursing landscape, that of gerontology and geriatrics. Coming along to my first BGS West Midlands meeting this spring was a welcome reprieve from the madness spewed daily by the tabloids and renewed my faith that the good guys are still out there!

Improving cancer care for older people

Dr Shane O’Hanlon is a consultant geriatrician with the Macmillan COCOC team (Comprehensive Care for Older People with Cancer) at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. He tweets @drohanlon

Today is World Cancer Day, and is a good opportunity to take stock of where we are with cancer care for older people.

Many people are surprised to hear that the majority of cancers are now diagnosed in people over the age of 65 years – this group is 11 times more likely to develop cancer than young adults. The incidence of cancer generally has been increasing since the 1970s, but the largest increase has been among people aged 75 years and older.

So we really should be offering excellent care to this group, and outcomes should be constantly improving. Is that what is happening?

Joining forces: The Future Hospital Commission and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment

Zoe Wyrko is a Consultant physician at University Hospital Birmingham and is the Honorary Secretary for the BGS. She tweets at @geri_baby 

The Future Hospital Commission (FHC) report, like so many other recent publications, acknowledges that our hospitals are not set up to meet the needs of the majority of people who use them. Where the FHC differs, however, is that it clearly states that routine incorporation of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) into the care of vulnerable older people is a way to address this. 

Unlocking gridlock in hospitals

Published in the June issue of the BGS Newsletter, we look at some startling results achieved through a couple of simple mechanisms as reported in to reports published by The Health Foundation.

The reports showcase programmes piloted in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust

The Flow Cost Quality improvement programme was set up to explore the relationship between patient flow, costs and outcomes by examining patient flow through the emergency care pathway and developing ways in which capacity can be better matched to demand.