OUR LADY OF LOURDES HOSPITAL DROGHEDA ANNOUNCED WINNER OF THE IRISH GOLDEN HIP AWARD FOR SECOND YEAR RUNNING

Dr Emer Ahern, Clinical Geriatrician Lead for the Irish Hip Fracture Database (IHFD) today announced Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (OLOL), Drogheda as the winner of the Irish Golden Hip Award 2021. This is the second year running that the hospital have been awarded the highly coveted title. The award winner was announced this morning at the Irish Hip Fracture Meeting 2021 hosted online by the National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA).

The Irish Golden Hip Award acknowledges the hospital with the highest proportion of patients achieving the best practice care standards. OLOL Drogheda was an early adopter of the Irish Hip Fracture Database, and has achieved great results in improvement of care for hip fracture patients.

Accepting the Golden Hip Award, Dr Helen O’Brien, Consultant Geriatrician said “the team are thrilled to accept this national award for hip fracture care in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. During this particularly challenging year with COVID, it is an important acknowledgement of the huge team effort involved in caring for our frail, older, complex orthopaedic patients. When you ask patients what matters most to them, the answer is always about getting home. That’s what it’s all about- patient-centred care to get people back up & walking, and home to their families. The multi-disciplinary team is key in achieving this & will continue to strive to provide the best possible care for our patients.”

Dr Ahern commented “Drogheda have set the bar high winning the golden hip award again this year, and have clearly demonstrated that alignment to the Irish Hip Fracture Standards along with local engagement of all the key stakeholders yields good outcomes for patients and compliance with the audit.“

The IHFD National Report 2020 was also launched at the NOCA event this morning. This report shows that the majority of falls leading to hip fracture occur in the home. The 2020 report places a key focus on Being Active at Home. Due to COVID-19, many people continue to spend more time in their homes, resulting in reduced socialisation and activity levels. A clear message is that keeping active throughout the day can help older adults to keep well physically, reducing the risk from harmful falls and mentally by continuing to be part of their communities.

KEY FINDINGS FROM IHFD NATIONAL REPORT 2020:

• Home continues to be the place patients are most likely to be admitted to hospital from with a hip fracture (85%).
• The average age of hip fracture patients is 81 years and over two-thirds (67%) are female.
• 33% of patients were admitted to an orthopaedic ward or went to theatre within four hours, an increase from 25% in 2019.
• 75% of surgeries were conducted within 48 hours and within normal working hours.
• 56% of patients received a nutritional risk assessment to identify risk of malnutrition.
• 82% of patients were reviewed by a Geriatrician in hospital.
• Prior to discharge, 85% of patients had a specialist falls assessment.
• 91% of patients had a bone health assessment.
• 78% of patients were mobilised by a physiotherapist on the day of or day after surgery.
• 28% of patients were discharged directly home from hospital following a hip fracture.

Copies of the report will be available to download from www.noca.ie.