Elderly Assessment Team (EAT)

The Elderly Assessment Team is a specialist, integrated multi disciplinary team comprising of nurses, therapists, social workers and doctors dedicated to strengthening emergency care systems for frail older people with complex needs including dementia. Good health and social care management of frail older people will be under pinned by comprehensive multi disciplinary assessment. In crisis older people often develop falls and confusion, and have very high readmission rates; emergency care at MEHT is being redesigned to respond to these needs.

The key principles behind the introduction of the Elderly Assessment Team are to ensure frail older people have access to the specialist skills and experience of a Geriatrician and a multi disciplinary team. Early multi disciplinary assessment involves early identification of problems and initiation of treatment in response to a crisis to quickly restore health, independence and well-being. Timely interventions not only improve outcomes for older people, reducing the risk of delirium, prevention of long term lost of mobility, but also reduce long term costs of care, by reducing the need for family support, hospital bed use and the need for intensive long-term care services. Ultimately, more people will return to their previous level of independent living restoring their quality of life.

Aims of the Elderly Assessment Team

• Early specialist MDT assessment and intervention

• Provide person-centred care

• Meet complex needs in a coordinated way

• Improve person’s experience of emergency care through the principles of “dignity in care”

• Discharge planning initiated on admission to urgent care environment

Team members

• Clinical Nurse Specialist

• Consultant Nurse

• Elderly Care Physicians

• Health Care Assistant

• Occupational therapist

• Older Peoples Assessment Nurses

• Social worker

• Speech and Language Therapist (to be appointed)

• Therapy assistant