Hospital Delirium Programme and Toolkit

Our aims

Our aims are to improve prevention, detection, management and treatment of delirium in hospitals across GM. This is supported by the Greater Manchester approach to delirium, which outlines standards and provides a person-centred pathway for all settings.

Why this matters

In 2018, Dementia United heard from locality leads, voluntary organisations, people living with dementia and carers, as well as responses to questionnaires sent out to general hospitals which all highlighted that there was a lack of awareness in identifying delirium, with a lack of consistent recording of the diagnosis of delirium, or consistent management or follow up. General hospitals across GM were found to have a range of delirium resources, however these were not standardised in terms of assessment or management.

What has been achieved so far

• We’ve developed a Hospital Delirium Toolkit that is supported by a range of collated training resources. The Greater Manchester hospital delirium toolkit is designed for staff to use, to help them identify and manage delirium in people over the age of 18 and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It is based on national evidence and includes resources for both clinicians and people with delirium and their families  Find out more
• Salford Royal Hospital developed and implemented a digital tool to improve the detection and management of delirium, as part of the Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) in 2017-8.
  • Salford Royal Hospital increased screening for over 65-year-olds by 34% and the length of stay for these patients reduced by 11%, saving an estimated £1.7m.
  • Use of a digital delirium pathway in an acute hospital: Use of a digital delirium pathway and quality improvement to improve delirium detection in the emergency department and outcomes in an acute hospital
  • Salford Royal video hearing from patients and carers about what delirium is like. Dr Emma Vardy, Consultant Geriatrician, and colleagues at Salford Royal Hospital describing their electronic delirium assessment and management tool designed to identify and manage delirium early.
  • Salford Royal Hospital’s Quality Improvement paper
  • Northern Care Alliance – diagnosis and management of delirium guideline

Next steps

• We’re are working with stakeholders and partners to promote the use of the resources.

To access the Training Resources webpage please click here and for the community toolkit, please click here.

Contact: gmhscp.dementiaunited@nhs.net