Hip fracture survival depends more on hospital than any patient factor – report

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By Olivia Bowthorpe

Care following hip fracture varies substantially between hospitals and is a bigger factor than a patient's age in determining outcomes, a national audit has found.

The 2026 National Hip Fracture Database annual report (NHFD) shows that where patients are treated is a greater determinant of the quality of care and their chances of survival than their age, sex, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

The NHFD was delivered by the Royal College of Physicians as part of the Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP).

The report said delirium remains “a major and preventable threat to recovery” after hip fracture with patients found to be approximately three times as likely to die in hospital and three times as likely to subsequently need to move into a care home. However, some hospitals are still not routinely assessing patients for signs of sudden confusion on admission or during recovery from surgery.

The report recommends that all hip fracture patients should have routine delirium screening.