Hip fracture care in the emergency department: it’s time to push fast-track

Hip fracture is the commonest serious injury amongst older people. The Irish Hip Fracture Standard One (IHFS1) requires that patients with hip fracture be admitted to an orthopaedic ward within four hours of presentation to the emergency department (ED). There is limited published data on the impact of coexisting acute medical issues at presentation and achieving this standard. This study aimed to quantify this burden of acute medical issues, as possible obstacles to safely fast-track patients with hip fracture from ED. Patients presenting with hip fracture to our hospital over one year (2019) were identified from the Irish hip fracture database (IHFD). A data collection proforma was created to record medical, radiological and laboratory details. Registration with the hospital audit research committee was sought. Data was anonymised, and analysed using Excel.