The effect of becoming a major trauma centre on outcomes for elderly hip fracture patients

Twenty-two major trauma centres (MTCs) became operational across England on 1st April 2012. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether becoming an MTC has affected outcomes for elderly hip fracture patients at our institution. Eight hundred and twenty-four patients aged ≥60 years who sustained 841 consecutive hip fractures over a two-year period were included. There were 381 fractures during the year prior to (pre-MTC group), and 460 fractures during the year after (post-MTC group) becoming an MTC. Outcomes analysed were time to theatre, length of acute hospital stay, post-operative complications, and mortality at 30, 120 and 365 days. No statistically significant difference was found in median length of stay between the two groups (13 days vs 14 days, p=0.2888). In the post-MTC group there was a significant increase in median delay to theatre for medically fit patients (25.5h vs 31.5h, p<0.0001), and there was a significant increase in post-operative medical complications (29.7% vs 37.6%, p=0.0160). There was no statistically significant difference in overall mortality rates, however 30-day mortality rose from 4.7% to 8.0% (p=0.0678). These results suggest that becoming an MTC has led to a significant increase in the delay to surgical management of our hip fracture patients with consequent increases in morbidity and mortality.