Avoidable admissions: time to ask the patients?

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Alison Turner on a study that reports the views of older patients and practitioners on hospital admissions; providing insights into urgent care from an older person’s perspective.

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Annual health checks may reduce emergency hospital admissions for preventable conditions

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Pauline Heslop summarises a UK primary care study that shows how emergency hospital admissions for preventable conditions can be reduced in people with learning disabilities who receive annual health checks.

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Improved co-ordination is critical to improving care for older people

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Alison Turner presents a new report from the NHS Confederation called ‘Growing old together: sharing new ways to support older people’, which has been produced by the independent Commission on Improving Urgent Care for Older People.

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Does QOF reduce hospitalisation for people with severe mental illness?

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Andres Fonseca appraises a regression analysis looking at the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and the impact it has on psychiatric admissions in people with severe mental illness.

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Mood Matters: mood instability is common and associated with poor outcomes

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Farhana Mann summarises an observational study of mood instability in people with mental illness, which explores its relationship with days spent in hospital, frequency of admissions, the likelihood of being sectioned and the chance of being prescribed antipsychotics and mood stabilisers.

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Dementia and hospitalisation: how do family carers respond?

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Clarissa Giebel analyses an Australian qualitative study into family carer feelings and responses, when their loved one with dementia is admitted to hospital.

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HSJ Commission challenges anecdote-based practice for frail elderly

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Alison Turner considers the strengths and weaknesses of a new report which presents the findings of the HSJ Commission on Hospital Care for Frail Older People, asking key questions of commissioners, providers and patients.

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Sustained smoking cessation intervention for hospitalised smokers

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Sally Adams summarises a new randomised controlled trial in JAMA, which tests a sustained care intervention and post-discharge smoking cessation for hospitalised smokers.

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Joint crisis plans: cost-effective for whom?

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Chris Sampson looks at the economic outcomes of a recent RCT of joint crisis plans to reduce compulsory treatment for people with psychosis. The study reports the potential for gains specifically among Black patients.

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