Wait times for the elderly at the emergency department in Logan Hospital are set to reduce due to a new geriatric unit.
The recently opened Geriatric Emergency Medicine Unit (GEMU) is the first in Queensland, and possibly Australia.
It was designed by a local doctor to enhance emergency care for the growing number of older patients presenting to Logan’s emergency department.
Older patients now make up around 19% of admissions every year.
The new unit, which includes six beds supposedly more comfortable than the typical medical beds, will help ensure older patients have smoother and faster access to the services they need.
Multiple emergency, inpatient and community geriatric services have been relocated into the GEMU to make emergency department care more efficient.
GEMU eligibility is for anyone aged 70 and older, or 55 and older for First Nations people.
The unit’s lead doctor, Golam Sarwar, spent two years designing and advocating for the development of the unit.
He said older patients often had unique and complex needs.
“Older patients often require longer hospital stays and are at greater risk of complications such as delirium, functional decline, and hospital-acquired infections,” he said.
“GEMU is setting a new benchmark in specialised, age-appropriate emergency care.
“The unit ensures older adults receive tailored, multi-disciplinary support from the moment they arrive in the ED.
“It is my dream – I have been working tirelessly for two years in my own time at home.”
With the number of older patients expected to rise significantly in the coming years, Dr Sarwar said there was a need for specialised geriatric care.
He said he was inspired by what he had witnessed as a doctor.
The state government predicts Logan’s older population (defined as those 65 years and older) will increase by around 55,000 people by 2046.
This means almost one out of every five people will be aged 65 or older in the city, the government says.
Mr Sarwar said while wait times at Logan were worse than other hospitals he had worked at, this was an issue likely facing all emergency departments.
“When an older person comes, they have to stay in the waiting area for a long time.
“They are not as vocal as the younger patients, and have a lot of unmet needs.
“They usually come with a lot of medical conditions and are on a lot of different medications.”
Mr Sarwar said it was for this reason that older patients needed to be treated differently to younger ones.
“The way you look at an older patient is quite different to how you look at a younger patient,” he said.
“Often, their non-clinical needs are not met.
“That inspired me to think about how I can improve the services for older people.”
Volunteers are also at the unit keeping patients company, chatting, playing games and reading them books.
“There are a lot of new things,” Dr Sarwar said.
“This is still a new unit… so we don’t have 100% of the services in place, but I am trying my best.”
Dr Sarwar said the launch of GEMU was one aspect of the hospital’s commitment to equitable access to excellent care, innovation, and workforce development.
“We hope that Logan Hospital will pave the way for other hospitals to follow and ensure that older adults receive the specialised, dignified care they deserve,” he said.
