The use of rehabilitation beds following hip fracture leads to an increased length of stay.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify if there is a difference in length of stay following hip fractures when using rehabilitation beds. Prospective data was collected on all hip fracture admissions in patients over 50 years from May 2016 to February 2018 from ISD NHS Scotland to identify length of stay. It was found that patients discharged home via rehabilitation wards were less likely to have returned to their own home by 30 days post admission and were also significantly more likely to stay in hospital for 40 days or more when compared to patients discharged directly home. In conclusion, the use of community rehabilitation units has been thought to improve functional outcome scores for activities of daily living compared to discharge from surgical wards. This study has highlighted increased length of stay using rehabilitation beds also that further analysis is required for care pathways to make the best use of resources available to minimise hospital stay, bed usage/cost of care and quicker return to the patient's place of residence. It has also highlighted the huge variation across Scotland in the process of hip fracture care.