Frailty score

The reason you're getting benefits is because you're a bit frail and need extra help.

Whiff

I will be asking for it to be taken off my medical records. I am not the frightened 29 who was labelled attention seeking,a fake ,mentally ill or suffering post natal depression. Who hadn't seen her children for 3 weeks due to hospital rules. Who had to see a psychiatrist before my GP could refer me to consultants who might help me . I don't need labeling frail as I have got enhanced PIP for living and enhanced PIP for mobility indefinitely as awarded but PIP tribunal . Only took me fighting for 35 years to get disability benefits. Plus I get full state pension and some pension credit.

I am 66 and very independent I won't stand for being labelled something I am not .

You're not being labelled as attention seeking.

Think about it. I know that you've written in the past about your condition and you struggled for years to get a diagnosis and some benefits. Now you have that recognition and (I believe) are rightfully receiving some benefits.

If the DWP were to do a random check on you and contact your GP, you'd have real problems if the GP wrote back and said "This patient is fit as a fiddle and doesn't need help with anything".

All the score does is flag up to your GP that they should be keeping a bit of an extra eye on you.

Whiff

I will be asking for it to be taken off my medical records. I am not the frightened 29 who was labelled attention seeking,a fake ,mentally ill or suffering post natal depression. Who hadn't seen her children for 3 weeks due to hospital rules. Who had to see a psychiatrist before my GP could refer me to consultants who might help me . I don't need labeling frail as I have got enhanced PIP for living and enhanced PIP for mobility indefinitely as awarded but PIP tribunal . Only took me fighting for 35 years to get disability benefits. Plus I get full state pension and some pension credit.

I am 66 and very independent I won't stand for being labelled something I am not .

You haven’t been singled out, everybody over the age of 65 is allocated a frailty score Whiff, it’s done routinely as part of the GP contract.
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/older-people/frailty/frailty-risk-identification/

Therefore I gather that when they say "frail" they must be taken to mean physically frail..
That was what I was trying to say.

I am frail and vulnerable, but very resilient and stoic, despite multiple comorbidities. If I wasn't I would have given in years ago. However it is very difficult to maintain that state of good mental health in the face of constant, chronic pain.
On occasions, I am skilled at covering up that frailty, both physical and emotional. I am sure Stephen Hawkins may have done the same.
I do it to protect my family, I do not wish to be a burden.

Mental frailty can be caused by physical frailty and clinicians will be aware of this.

I will be asking for it to be taken off my medical records. I am not the frightened 29 who was labelled attention seeking,a fake ,mentally ill or suffering post natal depression. Who hadn't seen her children for 3 weeks due to hospital rules. Who had to see a psychiatrist before my GP could refer me to consultants who might help me . I don't need labeling frail as I have got enhanced PIP for living and enhanced PIP for mobility indefinitely as awarded but PIP tribunal . Only took me fighting for 35 years to get disability benefits. Plus I get full state pension and some pension credit.

I am 66 and very independent I won't stand for being labelled something I am not .

Marydoll , Stephen Hawking was physically very frail in the later stages of motor neurone disease but was anything but mentally or emotionally frail. He was so able that he maintained a very good social life and the respect of thousands of people. I would have thought that a patient's notes would include mental and emotional ability. Therefore I gather that when they say "frail" they must be taken to mean physically frail.

Same as identifying as an old person, to identify oneself as physically frail can be hard to do. Personally, I fluff a very little colour on my cheeks to try to appear to be more healthy than I am so my friends and family will not worry about my health too much.

Caleo

Whiff, your mental and emotional health is not frail. On the contrary!

I hope mental and emotional health are considered when the 'frailty 'estimate is drawn up.

As far as I can see from the information provided by posters, there does not appear to be mental health conditions mentioned.

I came across this. I always thought frailty was to do with physical conditions.

What is frailty?
1. an inevitable consequence of aging
2. A state due to multiple long term conditions
3. A condition in which the person becomes fragile
4. A state associated with low energy, slow walking speed, poor strength

Whiff, your mental and emotional health is not frail. On the contrary!

I hope mental and emotional health are considered when the 'frailty 'estimate is drawn up.

I can't understand why people are so annoyed at being given a frail score.

Surely it is a positive thing and is based on clinicians' knowledge of you and your medical history and conditions? I am also not convinced that it would be soley based on one appointment, with a nurse doing bloods.

If it ensures more targetted care, then I am all for it. I will take all the support I can get to keep me reasonably well and stay alive.

Whiff The nurse wasn't assessing you - the computer system did that.

I have since read that it can be helpful when applying for benefits or aid.

Exactly! All it does is flag up to the GP that a patient might need a bit of extra care - personally, I wouldn't be turning that turn.

"Told my daughter what she put on my medical records and my daughter reckons she has frail eyes." Frail eyes...love it!

Some years ago, when the A5 record cards were used by surgeries I knew a GP who used to write "OBESE PATIENT" on the front of every patient record who was more than 3 stones overweight. They did this in red ink too. Wonder how many patients actually caught sight of it??

A few years ago I noticed on my medical record that I had been given a score indicating that I was far more 'frail' than I am. It was added on the day of my flu jab, when I wasn't asked a single relevant question.
I asked to have it removed or corrected but was told that it was not possible, but 'nobody looks at it anyway'. Just a box ticking exercise. I have since read that it can be helpful when applying for benefits or aid.

growstuff I live on my own in my bungalow I paid to have adapted in my way. I have looked after others since I was 11. When my nan was ill 2 aunts looked after during the week and my dad took me over on a Friday until Sunday. Even though having my own problems my extended family never treated me as different. The children I went to infant and junior with we grew up together I didn't know I was different until high school and got bullied everyday for 5 years. Plus the school was over 4 floors and fell up and down stairs everyday. Funny enough never broken a bone .

My health got worse in 1988 only thing I couldn't do was go out by myself our children where 4 and 6 months . But I was a hands on mom . I never missed anything they did at school thanks to my husband and dad.
I looked after my husband until he died from cancer in 2004 aged 47. Children left home my daughter back to the city she got her degree and my son to uni I wanted them to go in 2006. Then looked after my dad with my mom he died in 2007. Then looked after my mom and mother in law . My mother in law died in 2015. My mom lived with me for her last 18 months she had cancer and dementia. I did all this on my own . Mom died in 2017 . Then I had jaundice that year due to 2 tablets I had been on since 1992. Seriously ill for 5 months. Only on discharge was I told by my gastrologist people with my bilirubin levels normally died.

Moved by myself to live near my children a move of over 100 miles. Best thing I ever did as it's thanks to the healthcare here I finally know what 2 things I was born with.

This is why the nurse describing me as frail has made me so mad. Especially as she never told me she was assessing me .

Told my daughter what she put on my medical records and my daughter reckons she has frail eyes.

Click on the picture and it should enlarge.

OldFrill

This NHS link explains frailty identification and may be helpful.

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/older-people/frailty/frailty-risk-identification/

Thanks for that. This section is useful:

This NHS link explains frailty identification and may be helpful.

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/older-people/frailty/frailty-risk-identification/

Whiff Nobody's blaming you for anything. If you do have more than a third of the conditions listed, you need a little extra care and, if you're ill, clinicians need to know that you have additional conditions which might need special condition. It's to your advantage that clinicians know your condition(s) accurately.

Baggs

The photo of the frainlty scale is hard to read. Here is a link so you can enlarge the script: bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-021-02222-w/figures/1

That's a slightly different scale. The one I found gives the score as a percentage. The link to the one I found is here: ihub.scot/media/5948/e-frailty-index-brief-guide.pdf It would be helpful to know which system is being used.

Baggs that was easier to read I did tell the nurse I go to 2 exercise classes a week. Sit fit where we do sitting ,down standing up and walking exercises plus use ankle weights and resistance bands on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning a move it or lose it class again sit down and stand up exercises but using different equipment. Plus I do 7 exercises plus 300 rotations on my static pedals everyday.

Crossed posts Growstuff!

Whiff, have I remembered correctly that you had a battle to receive DLA and eventually won your case?
Fulfilling the criteria for that means that you must need support.

Whiff

Should say I had a face to face appointment with my GP on the 29th that's why I had the blood test. But no where on my doctors notes which are on my medical record did it mention a frailty index score .

Everyone over 65 has one hidden away somewhere. Unless it's a cause for concern, it won't be flagged.

I am glad I came across this thread, it is very interesting.

Whiff, how do you know for certain that it was the phlebotomist, who gave you the score and not one of your clinicians?

Whiff It's not to do with your disability, but the computer will have worked out your score from a range of conditions and symptoms which the GP knows about. Everybody over 65 has a score. The phlebotomist didn't have anything to do with calculating it. It's probably just coincidence that it's been calculated now or it could be because the GP has received information about your TIA, which has pushed up your frailty score. I don't know what other conditions and symptoms you have. What it does mean is that your GP should be giving you a bit more attention, which is a good thing.

ihub.scot/media/6106/frailty-and-the-electronic-frailty-index.pdf

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