Medicine for Older People - For Clinicians

Rapid Access Clinic

Cossham Hospital. Consultant responsible Dr Nigel Jones

This clinic is designed to provide a rapid medical assessment and management plan for a deteriorating patient who may otherwise end up in hospital. The service can help avoid unnecessary admission and support the intermediate care teams.

What does it involve?
A comprehensive geriatric assessment is performed by a consultant. Diagnostics including bloods, CAT scans and ultrasounds are preformed on the same day and a medical summary is dictated and faxed to the GP by the evening.  Medications are changed and dispensed as needed.

Which patients are eligible?

• Patients must be over 60 years old.
• Not obviously requiring acute emergency admission
• Social circumstances clear, no intractable social crises
• Deteriorating and threatening admission

Referrals should be made by telephone: 0117 340 8400 or by contacting the Consultant of the day on 07738 859048 or email referral to nbn-tr.olderpersonsrapidaccess@nhs.net

A series of questions will be asked (see direct access referral form). You will then be informed when a patient can attend. Up to three patients per day can be seen.

Patient travel
Please see if a relative or friend can take the patient to the hospital and collect them once they have finished. If this is not feasible then the PCT’s have an arrangement with WINGS. Please phone the Wings Ambulance service on 0117 9720999. You need to inform them that this is a Direct Access Patient. Please inform the Wings ambulance service of the urgency of the assessment. It is important that the patient gets to the Hospital as early as possible to enable all the investigations to be done in a timely way and to enable us to access the results on the same day.

Should results not be available by the time the clinic closes or the patient is deemed more ill than first thought, they will be transferred to Southmead Hospital Acute Assessment Unit under the care of the physician of the day.

Download Direct Access Clinic referral form PDF: