Admissions to geriatric medical wards in the 19 largest hospitals with major emergency departments in Scotland have risen by 10% for three consecutive years, reaching 43,311 by 2017/18, according to a new report.
The Acute Hospital Outcomes Report 2017/18 – an overview of outcomes of acute geriatric medicine services in Scotland published by Scottish Care of Older People National Audit Project – found that length of stay, however, has decreased across all sites by an average of one day over the same time period.
The study showed there was a strong relationship between the time waiting to get to a specialist bed and the overall length of time patients spent in hospital suggesting delays in accessing specialist services lead to longer stays in hospital.
Read more:
- Acute Hospital Outcomes Report 2017/18 – An overview of outcomes of acute geriatric medicine services in Scotland. Scottish Care of Older People National Audit Project. August 2019 (PDF)