Concord was named as a finalist in the Golden Hip Awards 2022.

Concord Hospital has been named as one of Australia’s best-performing hospitals for hip fracture care for the second year in a row.

Concord was among 10 hospitals across the country nominated as finalists in the Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry (ANZHFR) Golden Hip Awards.

The overall award was won by Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

The honour was welcome recognition of the effort of multi-disciplinary teams across Concord, Dr Paul Della Torre, an orthopaedic surgeon and the hospital’s Director of Surgery, said.

“It validates the hard work, dedication and tireless efforts of the medical, nursing and allied health teams at Concord Hospital,” he said.

As a result, the hospital has improved operational efficiency, clinical outcomes and patient care, he said, despite the challenges of the pandemic, when the orthopaedic ward at Concord was temporarily turned into a ward for COVID-19 patients.

“The main winners in best practice health care are our patients, and this is the greatest motivation for us to strive to maintain this high standard and improve further.

“Concord Hospital has become respected as a centre of excellence because we serve our community to the best of our ability.”

The ANZHFR estimates that there are about 22,000 new hip fractures every year in Australia.

The Golden Hip awards aim to promote and reward better health care for people with hip fractures by judging hospitals’ performance against the Hip Fracture Care Clinical Care Standard quality indicators, including emergency department care, timely access to theatres, shared care between geriatrics and orthopaedics, early mobilisation and secondary fracture prevention.

Concord was one of the first hospitals in NSW to establish an orthogeriatric service, in the mid-1990s; embedding an emphasis on collaboration between departments in its approach to patient care.

“A multi-disciplinary approach is essential for the management of elderly frail patients,” Dr Della Torre said.

“The orthogeriatric team with support from aged care, endocrinology, pharmacy, senior nursing staff and orthopaedic surgeons have embraced the ANZ Hip Fracture Registry recommendations to support best practice implementation of a hip fracture pathway.”

The hospital’s Clinical Director for Aged Health Associate Professor John Cullen echoed this sentiment.

“Hip fracture is a complex condition, with a poor outcome unless all components of care and disciplines are contributing in a coordinated way,” he said.

Dr Nargis Shaheen, an orthogeriatrician at Concord, emphasised the serious nature of the work she and her colleagues do.

“We are driven by the fact that older people with hip fractures have a high mortality and morbidity risk,” she said.

“We are greatly satisfied when the patients walk out of hospital independently.”