Unacceptable delays in UK hip fracture treatment:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Only 7% of hip fracture patients in England are admitted to hospitals within the time-frame of one hour, while 50% are required to wait over 24 hours before their operations, a report by the UK Audit Commission has revealed. According to Andrew Foster, controller of the commission: "It is unacceptable that one in five people have to wait more than 48 hours for an operation." Some hospitals have shown various improvements in the treatment of hip fracture patients, over the last five years, but there are many others who need to "fundamentally rethink their processes to ensure that patients receive prompt attention", said Mr Foster.