The Implementation of a Rib Fracture Pathway at a Small District General Hospital to Improve Patient Care.

Background and objective Rib fractures are common presentations to the emergency department following blunt thoracic trauma. Despite this injury causing significant morbidity and mortality, no national guidelines exist to guide the acute management of this condition. In light of this, this quality improvement project was conducted at a district general hospital (DGH) with the aim of assessing the impact of using a simple rib fracture management pathway.

Patients Lacking the Capacity to Consent to Hip Fracture Surgery May Be Undergoing Major Operations Without Their Next of Kin Being Involved in Best-Interests Decisions: A Quality Improvement Report.

Background Cognitively impaired patients with a hip fracture may be undergoing major operations without attempts being made to involve their next of kin (NoK) in best-interest decisions. Methods We used the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology to guide our quality improvement (QI) project. Cognitively impaired hip fracture patients were identified retrospectively by searching the hip fracture database of a medium-sized district general hospital (DGH).