This programme evaluated patients who had been proactively support by an Ageing Well frailty nurse in their homes from 2020 to 2022 measuring both impact on patient health and NHS demand. This information was compared to multiple baselines, both control cohorts and longitudinal trends to support causality and accuracy and a linked dataset from primary and secondary care patient data was developed to provide accurate health and cost analysis.
Proactive frailty nursing support for the mild and moderately frail was linked to a:
- 3 point rise in the BMI of underweight patients
- 0.9 point drop in the BMI of overweight patients
- ‘saving’ of at least 1 GP contact, but likely much greater
- £593 reduction in annual hospital cost
£1 spent on frailty support could save £4.20 in reduced primary and secondary care demand, that’s before counting the benefit to other providers and the benefit of improved patient health.
These findings show the value of investing in both proactive ‘ageing well’ support and population health improvement more generally.
