Delirium (sometimes called ‘acute confusional state’) is a clinical syndrome characterised by disturbance attention, awareness and cognition Delirium has an acute onset and fluctuating course. It is a serious condition that is associated with poorer clinical outcomes including death. Delirium can be prevented and treated if it is detected and managed.
The prevalence of delirium in people on medical wards in hospital is about 20% to 30%, in addition, the number of undetected cases is thought to be as high as 30% to 67%. Reporting of delirium is poor in the UK, indicating that awareness and reporting procedures need to be improved. It can be difficult to distinguish between delirium and dementia and some people may have both conditions. (NICE website).
There is also lack of awareness among heath care professionals of the importance of delirium.
NHS Engalnd NE in partnership with Tees Esk and Wear Valleys have hosted a number of educational events to raise aware of delirium among healthcare professionals, including those working in both acute and care home settings. A number of educational resources have also been developed and available below.
With the profile of delirium raised within the region and interest is high it is clear there is still an educational need especially within the community care and care home setting and that training should form part of a regular training programme with two educational training events being held annually.
On this page you will find a number of resources that can help in raising awareness and treating Delirium. Apart from developing some of the resource we have tried to compile good quality information that are available on the web to signpost for people to access those resources. We acknowledge and thank all the organizations and authors of the publication (that have been cited or linked here).
We have pulled together a number of resources to assist with managing Delirium and patients with COVID-19.
For more information please contact us:-
Dr M Santhana Krishnan FRCPsych
Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry/Liaison Psychiatry, Senior Clinical Director MHSOP Trust-wide
Associate Dean and Regional Delirium Lead for Health Education England
Chair, Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists
twitter: @deliriumkrish
email mail: quality.ne@hee.nhs.uk