Karen Spilsbury

Organisation of care for older people in A&E

THE NEEDS OF OLDER PEOPLE REPRESENT an under-recognised but significant part of the workload of A&E nurses. In 1998, an action research study was commissioned by a large UK trust to review the organisation of care for older people in A&E. The trust, which has a busy A&E dealing with minor and major trauma, has also set up an inpatient specialty, Services for Older People, for acutely ill patients, age 75 and over, with its own specialist wards and staff. The study was initiated after the difficult winter of 1996/97 when the pressure of emergency admissions was high, leading to excessive trolley waits in A&E.