West Suffolk Hospital gets top marks for hip fracture care
Data shows hip fracture care at the Bury St Edmunds hospital is some of the best in the country
West Suffolk Hospital has been named as one of the best for hip fracture care in the country.
According to data compiled by the National Hip Fracture Database, the hospital scored an overall 94.3% for meeting best practice criteria when assessing patients with a hip fracture.
The hospital was marked on a wide array of criteria, including achieving 100% scores for providing nutritional risk assessments and mental test scores for patients when they are admitted.
Its overall score puts the Bury St Edmunds hospital as the top in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for hip fracture care.
Dr Konrad Wronka, hip fracture lead consultant at West Suffolk Hospital, said:
"Sometimes our elderly patients are very frail when they come to us, so rapid decisions about care and action are very important to help them regain mobility and a good quality of independence. Initial assessment, prompt and timely surgery and post-operative rehabilitation are key in achieving good outcome for those patients.
"In Suffolk, like throughout the whole country, we have an ageing population. We see a lot of older patients with hip fractures and using the criteria set by the National Hip Fracture Database as a way to measure our effectiveness ensures we continuously aim to improve our patients’ outcomes.
"Our team is made up of specialists including doctors, nurses, trauma practioners and rehabilitation specialists. Having a progressive team ensures the patient is identified as soon as they attend the emergency department and they are looked after before, during and after surgery."
West Suffolk NHs Foundation Trust chief executive, Steve Dunn, added:
"I am incredibly proud of our team for working at such a high standard to deliver safe, quality care for patients who come to us with hip fractures.
"Fractures like these can be very scary for the patient so it’s brilliant for the residents of west Suffolk to know that they are in good care if they have to come into our hospital for treatment."