Hip fracture delays raise risk of dying

HIP-fracture patients are more likely to die if they are waiting in A&E for more than four hours, a study claims.

- Hanna Geissler

It found one extra death happens within 90 days of injury for every 36 patients who wait longer than the national standard for treatment. They also spend a day longer in hospital than those seen within four hours.

Frail

The analysis looked at 3,200 hipfracture patients aged 50 and over at a trauma centre in Lothian, Scotland, between January 2019 and the end of June 2022.

Study leader Dr Nicholas Clement, from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Edinburgh University, said: "We thought we'd look at our hip fracture patients that are more frail than the standard patients that arrive.