Dr Opinder Sahota honoured for his work with older people

Dr Opinder Sahota from Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), Nottingham has been named Hospital Doctor of the Year in the East of England and the Midlands.

Dr Sahota also led the team which won the Technology Award in the Health and Social Care awards run by the Department of Health.

When Dr Sahota began work at the QMC in 2001, almost none of the 1,500 people seen with fractures and broken hips at the QMC each year were assessed for osteoporosis. Few were given advice on treatment or how to avoid falls, or referred to the Falls Prevention Services run by local health authorities. However, with the help of colleagues, Dr Sahota has overhauled the hospital’s service.

Now 94% of the outpatients aged over 60 who come to the fracture clinic are assessed for falls and osteoporosis. Almost all of those admitted with hip fractures receive detailed assessments. When they are discharged they are referred directly to the falls teams to reduce the risk of taking another tumble when they go home.

The Department of Health says the Doctor of the Year must have made an “outstanding contribution to the development and delivery of services to patients, service users or carers over a number of years”.

Dr Sahota said: “I am very proud that we have developed a comprehensive service. It is recognition of delivering patient care. We have tried to develop a service that prevents people from having another fracture. Although I was nominated for this award, the development of the service has been driven by a number of people throughout the trust and wider health community.”

Dr Sahota and his colleagues have also tackled the problem of older people falling while they are in hospital. In an innovative scheme, which has won the technology award, beds and chairs on an 18-bed ward, where elderly female patients are cared for as they recover from hip fractures, have been fitted with pressure sensors beneath the cushions and mattresses. When the patient leaves the bed or the chair, the system activates a pager carried by an auxiliary nurse, who can then go and offer assistance and support. During an eight-month trial, the first of its kind, the number of falls on the ward were cut by half.

At the QMC, up to 3,000 patients fall over each year, leading to people staying an extra ten days on average. Each day in hospital is estimated to cost £350. All the changes implemented by Dr Sahota and his team have been done without extra money.

Asked what attracts him to this area of medicine, Dr Sahota said: “You can make a big difference by doing something very simple.”

Dr Sahota has also championed blanket prescribing of vitamin D and calcium for all elderly patients in nursing homes in the Nottingham area, who do not receive what they need through their diet or exposure to sunlight.

Dr Sahota’s efforts have been appreciated by his patients. Bernice Flowers, secretary of the Nottingham branch of the National Osteoporosis Society, said: “We are delighted. He has been very supportive of people with osteoporosis. He is getting things done. He has got the recognition he deserves.”

Mrs Flower, who is treated by Dr Sahota and has suffered from osteoporosis for 19 years, said: “It is important work. People who have had a fracture should not leave treatment and not realise they have osteoporosis.”

Alice Reynolds, 90, from Stapleford, has had two hip replacements. She said: “I always find him very helpful and patient and prepared to listen. I would rate him above other doctors in his attitude to patients.”

Another patient on ward 50, Ivy Starman, 79, who has been in hospital for five weeks following a hip replacement, said: “I think he is marvellous. He has made me walk when I thought I would never walk again. I can’t praise him enough.”