Paramedic’s work for frail patients recognised with national award

Jaynie Sheen was recently given an award at the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives Ambulance Leadership Forum in Leeds. Jaynie has improved the ambulance service’s care for its most frail patients and helped hundreds avoid unnecessary stays at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn.

Very frail patients can have a rapid decline after a stay in hospital, which can lead to sleep deprivation, increased risk of falls, infection and most importantly, general physical deconditioning.

The most frail patients have an in-patient mortality of up to 31% and a one-year mortality rate of 50%, so helping them stay out of hospital can have a profound effect on life expectancy.

The QEH has operated a Health Care Professional (HCP) telephone advice line for frail patients since 2017, but Jaynie has been instrumental in getting EEAST colleagues to use the service – educating colleagues on identifying and assessing frailty and how to get patients the right care.

Jaynie also helped increase the frailty line hours to 8am to 8pm, seven days a week to reflect when the ambulance service saw the most patient need, and introduced a video phone to help make better decisions. The result has been an overwhelmingly successful and has resulted in improving the quality of care and dignity provided by EEAST’s clinicians. From these phone calls over 60% of patient avoid hospital admission, not just on the day but for up to 28 days afterwards - it is essential we monitor this figure to ensure we are making the right long-term decision for the patient.

In October 2024 the QEH opened a new Frailty Same-Day Emergency Care ward (FSDEC). This has enhanced the service further by allowing EEAST to directly refer patients into FSDEC via the advice line, avoiding busy A&E departments. Those patients that are admitted to A&E through the frailty line still receive specialist inpatient care and as a result their length of stay has been reduced to below the national average.

Jaynie said “I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of this collaboration and will always support it to provide excellent patient care. This award is not just for me but for all my colleagues in West Norfolk who have supported this project and provide outstanding patient care on a daily basis”