‘It’s not fancy, but it works’: How geriatricians in EDs prevented 700 hospital admissions
Dr Jonathan Beavers says geriatricians are queuing up to work in EDs.
Geriatrician Dr Jonathan Beavers estimates that 700 older patients have avoided hospital admission thanks to an initiative he helped introduce into EDs in Melbourne’s east.
Under the scheme, a geriatrician works a morning shift each weekday in the ED of Eastern Health hospitals.
They consult on the older patients who have been assessed by ED doctors as requiring admission to hospital but who could be managed a different way.
The geriatricians have helped divert patients with everything from falls and fractures to delirium, allowing them to recover at home or in the community with support from hospital outreach programs, such as Hospital in the Home, Geriatric Evaluation and Management at home or residential in-reach services.
