“Frequent flier” patients

Rising healthcare costs and tight budgets mean that primary care trusts (PCT) are under pressure to reduce the number of admissions to hospital. One target group of patients is those with multiple admissions—the “frequent fliers.” Improved management of these patients is good medical practice and can be cost effective for managers.^w1The case management programme is the latest NHS initiative that aims to reduce the number of elderly frequent fliers. ^{w1 w2}We examined hospital episode statistics to reveal the scale of these admissions and to determine predictors of multiple admissions.