Current Care and Barriers to Optimal Care of People With Hip Fracture: A Survey of Hospitals in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Fragility hip fractures are a common and often devastating event, and a shared care approach between orthopaedics and geriatrics can improve patient, health service and quality of care outcomes. The aim of this cross-sectional survey, administered to all hospitals caring for patients with acute hip fracture, in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, was to establish current models of care (e.g. shared care or other), and barriers and facilitators of best care.METHODS: A combination of quantitative and free-text data was collected. In total, 30/36 (83%) hospitals responded, with representation from all 15 state local health districts.RESULTS: Overall, 21/30 had a formal orthopedic surgery/geriatric medicine shared care model; orthopaedic surgery admission with routine (ortho)geriatrician input was commonest (13/21). Multiple barriers to optimal hip fracture care were identified along the various stages of the national guideline-recommended care pathway. Common barriers reported included staffing deficits (for pain assessment, fascia iliaca block administration) and gaps in service structure (lack of specialist services for refracture prevention). Multidisciplinary meetings were in place to enable best care and to promote team communication, but were impeded by absence of relevant team members (8/16). Free-text themes of enablers of good practice included clear escalation and hand-over processes, multidisciplinary communication strategies, and guideline-aligned clinical pathways.CONCLUSION: Moving forward, addressing common barriers such as staffing and knowledge deficits, and harnessing enablers of good practice such as multidisciplinary communication and support, combined with effective implementation strategies, are likely to optimize care for patients with hip fracture.