Prince of Wales Hospital is officially hip

It's official: it's hip to be operated on at Prince of Wales Hospital. The hospital has been named as one of the top 10 hospitals in Australia for excellence in dealing with hip fractures.
 
The Golden Hip Award ceremony, which originated from Scotland, was held virtually on Wednesday 22 September, and was the first of its kind in Australia.

The award was presented to 10 teams who performed well when it came to emergency department care, timely access to theatres, shared care between geriatrics and orthopaedics, early mobilisation, and secondary fracture prevention.

Hip fractures are common injuries in older people and have significant consequences for life and quality of life.

Although there has been a steady decline in hip fractures due to bone density medications, there are still thousands of people admitted to hospital for hip fractures every year in Australia.

Health Minister, The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, sang the praises of the teams at the awards, thanking "the amazing clinicians" for "their outstanding clinical care and human care" looking after hip fracture patients.
 
The Australia and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry co-chaired by Prince of Wales Hospital's Professor Jacquie Close and St George Hospital's Professor Ian Harris aims to improve outcomes for older people.
 
Management of hip fracture patients involves many grades of staff working collaboratively to ensure patients have the best outcome. At Prince of Wales Hospital this includes nurses, physicians, surgeons, anaesthetists and allied health.
 
The risk of hip fractures increases with age because bones tend to weaken due to osteoporosis. Multiple medications, poor vision and balance problems also make older people more likely to fall — one of the most common causes of hip fracture.
 
A hip fracture almost always requires surgical repair or replacement, followed by physical therapy.

The Golden Hip Award