NHS Fife: getting it right for our most vulnerable patients

Back to Basics

The decision to embark on a frailty improvement programme was triggered by the amalgamation of Fife’s Victoria Hospital with Queen Margaret Hospital. Bringing together two emergency teams with two separate ways of doing things created challenges, but also provided an opportunity to go back to basics and redesign the service in a way that frontline staff believed would work best. The hospital formed a working group consisting of representatives from across the multidisciplinary team.

“There was strong leadership, honesty and a commitment to creating a clear vision for the treatment of frail older patients,” said Joy. “We invited representatives from the two existing teams to come and join us at a service redesign and team-building day, where teams were asked to describe their ideal service model. One of the things that emerged as a common theme was the need to introduce Frailty Advanced Nurse Practitioners ( ANPs) to support the decision-making process. As a result of this, two new ANPs were recruited onto the team and a Band 5 Nurse was upskilled. Physiotherapy Team Lead, Louise Kellichan was recruited to the role of Frailty Team Lead to drive the improvement process and oversee the implementation of improvements identified by the working group.” Dr Kirsty Rodger, Geriatrician lead for Front Door Frailty Service was successfully appointed 1 year on which has further enhanced the delivery of older peoples care at the front door.

^{Left to right: Mark Alcock (Specialist PT), Gordon Ellis (Frailty ANP), Joy Reid (Nurse Consultant), Louise Kellichan (Team Lead), Lorna Brocklesby (Specialist OT) and Rhona Lyttle (Frailty SN)}