Hip fractures are a major public health issue due to an ever increasing ageing population (80 is the average age of a person who has a hip fracture). Around 70,000-75,000 hip fractures occur in the UK each year. The Scottish Hip Fracture Standards, aim to improve the delivery of care following a hip fracture. One of these standards is to reduce the period of fasting prior to surgery. Prolonged fasting can potentially impact on the patients post-operative recovery and can lead to delirium. The national dashboard indicated that across NHS Scotland and within Dumfries and Galloway Infirmary patients are fasted for significantly longer than required.
Aim: By June 2016 the number of patients being fasted from fluid longer than 2 hours prior to hip fracture surgery within ward 16 in Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary will be reduced by 50% (A reduction from 90% to 40%).
