A hospital service designed specifically to help improve the care of elderly patients in A&E is celebrating its one year anniversary.

The Frailty Intervention Team (FIT) at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath is a new clinical service for patients in A&E over the age of 65.

The team assess these patients who have frailty related problems, such as falls or reduced mobility, and make necessary medical interventions early on.

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This can include reviewing their medication and making referrals to specialist services.

Since opening a year ago, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust said the clinic has led to fewer hospital admissions, shorter stays and enhanced patient health.

The team, which is led by Dr Gen Beckett and includes specialist nurse Amelia Jordan and specialist physiotherapist Sarah Lambert, said the aim is to help elderly people attending A&E early on.

This allows them to have the best possible care within hours of their arrival.

Dr Gen Beckett, consultant geriatrician said: "We are immensely proud of what we have been able to achieve in just one year. Our aim is for patients to get better as quickly as possible.

"The service delivers comprehensive assessments within hours, which means patients can get home as soon as possible which evidence shows leads to improved outcomes for patients."

Since the service began, the team said it has increased the number of outpatient appointments at the Rapid Access Clinic for Older People (RACOP) by ensuring the clinic follow up with patients at short notice who have been able to go home after attending A&E.

The team, who work closely with the community physiotherapy team, can also organise urgent home visit appointments for patients.

Amelia Jordan, one of the team's three members, said: "The feedback from our patients has been overwhelmingly positive.

"We can devote extra time to vulnerable patients to get to the root cause of their problems.

"They also have the security of knowing that we can see them again quickly in the RACOP clinic if they continue to have concerns or experience problems."

The hospital trust said the team is now developing an inpatient liaison service to provide specialist frailty advice to inpatients in hospital.

Sarah Lambert, specialist physiotherapist, said: "The inpatient service offers an extensive geriatric assessment to patients admitted to wards in cases where they would not routinely see a geriatrician or member of the frailty team.

"It has been successful in providing an extra layer of advice regarding the management of frail older patients who have been admitted to a speciality ward, other than care of the elderly, such as surgery.

"As the service develops, we hope to be able to expand the number of patients we can see each day."

The trust is now making similar improvements to the care of older patients with frailty problems across other hospitals.

The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton has recently introduced the Frailty Same Day Emergency Care (FSDEC) which takes referrals directly from GPs.

Patients are then put in touch with clinical nurse specialists and geriatricians, which prevents them from needing to attend A&E.