Open AccessAmbulance clinicians’ perceptions, assessment and management of frailty: thematic analysis of focus groups
Author(s) -
Jonathan Green,
Kim Kirby,
Suzy Hope
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
british paramedic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1478-4726
DOI - 10.29045/14784726.2018.12.3.3.23
Subject(s) - focus group , thematic analysis , context (archaeology) , medicine , ambulance service , service (business) , family medicine , medical emergency , qualitative research , economy , economics , paleontology , social science , marketing , sociology , business , biology
More than half of all patients attended by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust are over the age of 65. In 2017, 62% of older patients who were the subject of a frailty assessment were believed to have at least mild frailty (1/5 of all patients). Frailty is an increasingly relevant concept/diagnosis and ambulance services are well positioned to identify frailty and influence the 'care pathways' through which patients are directed (thereby influencing health outcomes). Throughout the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, a mandatory training session regarding frailty was delivered to clinical personnel in 2017 and frailty assessment tools are available on the electronic Patient Clinical Record.