Analysing stages of care in hospital stay for fractured neck of femur.

All 216 patients with femoral-neck fractures presenting to the trauma and orthopaedic service of a large health district over a 20-week period were studied to identify the stage of care for each day of the hospital stay. Of the 5167 patient-days of acute hospital care 492 were spent awaiting surgery (10%), 141 being made fit for surgery (3%), 2690 recovering from surgery without complications (51%), 59 being treated for surgical complications (1%), 56 being treated for medical complications (1%), and 1437 awaiting discharge after medical and surgical care was complete (28%); 292 (6%) days were spent by patients receiving conservative treatment. The method described provides a basis for examining the problem of extended acute hospital stay and variations in length of stay between different centres for elderly patients with this and other disorders.