Which Aged Care inpatients are potentially suitable for community‐based acute care?

Aim:  To identify Aged Care inpatients potentially suitable for Acute/Post‐Acute Care (APAC)‐Aged Care, a new service offering community‐based acute care as an alternative to hospital admission for frail older people. Methods:  Criteria were developed to identify suitable patients for APAC‐Aged Care and applied to consecutive Aged Care inpatient admissions at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia, through retrospective chart review. Results:  Only 5/90 reviewed patients were potentially suitable for APAC‐Aged Care. All five were from Residential Aged Care Facilities. The median age of the 90 patients was 86 years; 30% lived in Residential Aged Care Facilities; 53% of patients were medically stable on presentation; 70% required investigations beyond a standard baseline set; 27% had either no new functional decline on presentation or adequate community support to manage this; 91% had allied health input and 41% had medical/surgical consultation. Conclusion:  APAC‐Aged Care is a potentially suitable alternative to acute inpatient hospitalisation in a select minority of Aged Care patients.