Frail patients with neck of femur fracture often present to Accident & Emergency (A&E) with concomitant medical problems and are frequently fast-tracked to orthopaedic wards to achieve government waiting time targets.

This is a second cycle of audit since 2008 examining the safety of fast-tracking following several critical incidents. Data was collected prospectively between March and June 2011 by the first on-call orthopaedic doctor.

56 patients (12 male), average age 81.2y (50–97) were fast-tracked. 52 were correctly referred as having intra/extracapsular fracture; 4 patients did not have neck of femur fracture, but did have other medical problems. On arrival to the ward, 8 patients demonstrated abnormal symptoms, signs and vital observations requiring immediate review from the receiving physicians. For the 56 patients, a total of 448 mandatory points of protocol (e.g. intravenous access) should have been addressed prior to transfer; 150 were omitted (33.5%). Vital observations of patients fast-tracked after 2100h were worse (MEWS range 0 to 11) when compared with those fast-tracked prior to 2100h (MEWS range 0 to 3).

Fast-tracking is a common practice amongst many district-general and some teaching hospitals in Scotland. These data support concerns from orthopaedic surgeons and highlight the need for more complete management by A&E and, if necessary, referral to receiving medical staff prior to ward transfer. Early medical optimisation of acute and chronic comorbidities common to these patients is the main facilitator of early surgery. The evidence base demonstrates early surgery is a major variable in reducing post-operative mortality.