Hospital purgatory: The patients trapped in acute beds with nowhere else to goÂ
Behind gridlocked EDs, ambulance ramping, angry patients, and frustrated doctors often lies a frail elderly patient stuck in the wrong kind of bed. Dr Chloe…
Tag: Geriatrics
I watched my mother die a slow death: VAD laws need to change
I have just spoken the eulogy for my mother, who died aged 99.333 years of age. She was a tough old bird, having knocked on…
Hospital should be a last resort for elderly patients, not the default destination
The recent AusDoc article on elderly patients languishing in hospital beds without needing acute care inspired me to think about the changing roles of hospital…
Elderly patients spend too long in hospital wards — what can get them out of there quickly and safely?
Maintenance patients — that is what a report on NSW Health calls elderly people who languish on wards without actually needing acute care. “On any…
Why are we so quick to criticise other doctors when things go wrong?
Why are we so ready to criticise colleagues? We’re encouraged to develop empathy for our patients. Why can’t we be empathetic towards each other? Why,…
Two years of hiccups solved by identifying unusual cause: case report
The mystery of a 93-year-old man who had been hiccupping intermittently for two years, then persistently for a fortnight, was solved after doctors uncovered an…
With VAD safeguards now seen as obstacles by pro-euthanasia doctors, I worry for vulnerable patients
Back in 2017, following a tough and taxing debate, Victoria became the first Australian state to legalise what proponents call voluntary assisted dying (VAD), and…
‘We are going to listen to you now’: Dr Liz Marles on protecting patients from the harms of too much medicine
Polypharmacy is a complex issue for doctors, particularly when it comes to older patients — the gradual functional decline, the increasing frailty, and cascading complications…
GP’s advice to elderly patient in fatal fitness-to-drive case ignored: coroner
A 90-year-old man who died after a car accident ignored his GP’s advice to undergo a driving assessment following a new AF diagnosis, a Victorian…
Certain diabetes drugs cut risk of COPD exacerbations: study
Patients with type 2 diabetes and COPD are up to 20% less likely to experience respiratory exacerbations when treated with SGLT-2 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor…
