Meet The Team: Frail Elderly Assessment Team (FEAT), RDH
Want to get to know some of our #TeamUHDB colleagues a little better?
For the next instalment of our Meet The Team series, where we speak with colleagues across the Trust to get to know them a little better and share what they do across our organisation, we’ve spoken with Royal Derby Hospital’s Frail Elderly Assessment Team (FEAT).
We met up with Louise Organista, Rupinder Rai and Reena Gaddu – Advanced Prescribing Pharmacists within FEAT – to discuss what they do, and how the work they are doing is driving improvement in the understanding and care of older patients.
The team is multidisciplinary, including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy roles; assessing patients admitted to the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU). The pharmacists also work with the Emergency Department within the Frailty Assessment Area.
Upon admission to the MAU, FEAT undertake what is called a ‘Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment’. The pharmacists focus on medicines, as well as other aspects of the patient's care, such as their mental health, medical history, lifestyle and broad physical needs.
Louise said: “While we are more involved pharmaceutically in reviewing medications, we look at the big picture and don’t solely treat their medical needs. As a team, we’re here to work together and treat every aspect of the patient.
“We don’t assume anything. While we address the cause of their admission, we often identify issues through our assessments that weren’t part of their reason for being here and may have been missed without us - yet require significant intervention.
“We provide a range of tips and advice, and take the time to help people in a more holistic manner – especially when they may not have seen their GPs in a while”.
Reena added: “This is a longer-term effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Older patients are less likely to have visited any of their GP services, and as a result, medications are continued without review, which has sometimes caused other problems – including worsening symptoms – which is where we come in as part of our comprehensive, wide-ranging geriatric assessments.
“We really listen to patients and relatives. We make pharmaceutical changes to reduce risk for the patient. We find the effects of this really rewarding – we follow up with patients when they’ve returned to the community, and we can see the difference. We find that our interventions have taken effect.
“Ultimately, this is all about improving the lives of our patients and the quality of the care they receive. We go back to square one with each patient, and this ‘detective work’ is what we are all about!”
The FEAT also work with our Discharge teams as part of their assessments, to ensure that we are providing a “holistic” approach to ensure patients are safe in their normal environment once discharged.
Louise continued: “We have a key role in getting patients home safely and addressing multiple issues to prevent them being re-admitted. Without our team, patients could stay in hospital for longer, potentially picking up infections - at an increased cost to the Trust, lowering our capacity.
“We are one of the key parts in patient care in terms of making sure pressure and a financial burden is reduced on the Trust as much as we can.
“However, at the end of the day, as much as we’re doing this – there’s a patient we’re helping personally and as a team, that’s always the main priority, and underlines everything that we do.”
Rupinder added: “Not only does our work benefit the patient and their health, but their families too – and that is really rewarding.
“When you have a patient that you review medication for, they’re really grateful for this, and often even the most simple advice - such as regularity of paracetamol, rather than managing pain with codeine, for example – can go a long way.
“Also, we can provide clarity for family members who’ve been struggling with administration of medicine, and they’re so grateful for this advice – as well as the range of information on Trust services that we can provide.”