Alasdair MacLullich
@amaclullich.bsky.social
Physician & Professor of Geriatric Medicine @EdinburghUni.
Chair, Scottish Hip Fracture Audit.
Delirium, hip fracture.
Free chapter of new book: https://www.the4at.com/family-delirium-guide
Chair, Scottish Hip Fracture Audit.
Delirium, hip fracture.
Free chapter of new book: https://www.the4at.com/family-delirium-guide
Pinned
There's a real gap in public information on #delirium & I'm aiming to help address this with this book.
Get a pdf of Chapter 1 via this link:
www.the4at.com/family-delir...
#familycaregiver
Get a pdf of Chapter 1 via this link:
www.the4at.com/family-delir...
#familycaregiver
All these informal terms - avoiding saying "delirium" - makes care FAR less effective.
Use #DELIRIUM.
Use #DELIRIUM.
January 6, 2026 at 7:58 AM
All these informal terms - avoiding saying "delirium" - makes care FAR less effective.
Use #DELIRIUM.
Use #DELIRIUM.
"As dementia progresses, a person's ability to communicate their needs and wishes will change. It is important to pay close attention to non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language, to understand how they are feeling."
— Marie Curie Charity
— Marie Curie Charity
January 3, 2026 at 9:17 PM
"As dementia progresses, a person's ability to communicate their needs and wishes will change. It is important to pay close attention to non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language, to understand how they are feeling."
— Marie Curie Charity
— Marie Curie Charity
January 2, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Emergency Department (ED) staff: screen ALL patients over 65 for delirium.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
January 1, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Emergency Department (ED) staff: screen ALL patients over 65 for delirium.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
December 31, 2025 at 8:06 AM
"I can't remember" – Patients who have had #delirium often experience a feeling of 'lost time'. You can help by clearly explaining what delirium is & answering their questions. Give them a narrative of what has happened to them.
December 30, 2025 at 7:58 AM
"I can't remember" – Patients who have had #delirium often experience a feeling of 'lost time'. You can help by clearly explaining what delirium is & answering their questions. Give them a narrative of what has happened to them.
"In 2024, it is estimated there are more than 421,000 people living with all forms of dementia in Australia. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase to more than 812,500 by 2054."
— Dementia Australia
— Dementia Australia
December 27, 2025 at 9:17 PM
"In 2024, it is estimated there are more than 421,000 people living with all forms of dementia in Australia. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase to more than 812,500 by 2054."
— Dementia Australia
— Dementia Australia
A positive delirium screen should trigger diagnosis and care.
When it doesn’t - we haven’t actually helped the patient and their family.
We’ve created a bureaucratic fiction, not better care.
When it doesn’t - we haven’t actually helped the patient and their family.
We’ve created a bureaucratic fiction, not better care.
December 18, 2025 at 8:08 AM
A positive delirium screen should trigger diagnosis and care.
When it doesn’t - we haven’t actually helped the patient and their family.
We’ve created a bureaucratic fiction, not better care.
When it doesn’t - we haven’t actually helped the patient and their family.
We’ve created a bureaucratic fiction, not better care.
Getting unstuck. IYKYK.
December 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Getting unstuck. IYKYK.
"I was so afraid, so afraid, and I cried and shouted…. I was certainly very afraid… I was convinced that they were going to kill me."
#Delirium
#Delirium
December 12, 2025 at 7:53 AM
"I was so afraid, so afraid, and I cried and shouted…. I was certainly very afraid… I was convinced that they were going to kill me."
#Delirium
#Delirium
December 10, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Every hospital should have a delirium champion. We have stroke and sepsis champions - why not #delirium?
#PatientSafety
#PatientSafety
December 9, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Every hospital should have a delirium champion. We have stroke and sepsis champions - why not #delirium?
#PatientSafety
#PatientSafety
"Patients with cognitive impairment are at higher risk of all hospital-acquired complications. For example, they are twice as likely to fall, and three times more likely to develop a pressure injury."
— Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
— Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
December 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
"Patients with cognitive impairment are at higher risk of all hospital-acquired complications. For example, they are twice as likely to fall, and three times more likely to develop a pressure injury."
— Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
— Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
“He has had some fearful shock - so says our doctor - and in his #delirium his ravings have been dreadful, of wolves and poison and blood, of ghosts and demons, and I fear to say of what.”
Bram Stoker - Dracula (1897)
December 6, 2025 at 12:04 PM
“He has had some fearful shock - so says our doctor - and in his #delirium his ravings have been dreadful, of wolves and poison and blood, of ghosts and demons, and I fear to say of what.”
Bram Stoker - Dracula (1897)
"Although I have no doubts whatsoever that the care I received was of the highest order, I still feel today that my #delirium was seen as an acceptable side effect of my illness and treatment."
December 5, 2025 at 7:53 AM
"Although I have no doubts whatsoever that the care I received was of the highest order, I still feel today that my #delirium was seen as an acceptable side effect of my illness and treatment."
Emergency Department (ED) staff: screen ALL patients over 65 for delirium.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
December 4, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Emergency Department (ED) staff: screen ALL patients over 65 for delirium.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
Emergency departments are where it's most missed and most dangerous.
Make it as routine as checking blood pressure.
Physical activity for adults & older adults
December 3, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Physical activity for adults & older adults
Some studies show that in some undergraduate degrees nurses get no formal #delirium training.
For an emergency that affects 1 in 6 hospital patients.
Help me understand why this is.
For an emergency that affects 1 in 6 hospital patients.
Help me understand why this is.
December 2, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Some studies show that in some undergraduate degrees nurses get no formal #delirium training.
For an emergency that affects 1 in 6 hospital patients.
Help me understand why this is.
For an emergency that affects 1 in 6 hospital patients.
Help me understand why this is.
"In 2023, Alzheimer's and other dementias will cost the nation $345 billion. By 2050, these costs could rise to nearly $1 trillion."
— Alzheimer's Association
— Alzheimer's Association
November 29, 2025 at 9:17 PM
"In 2023, Alzheimer's and other dementias will cost the nation $345 billion. By 2050, these costs could rise to nearly $1 trillion."
— Alzheimer's Association
— Alzheimer's Association
“The fever of my soul rendered every sight a maddening vision, and I was overtaken by a #delirium in which truth and nightmare danced as one.”
Edgar Allan Peo - The Black Cat, 1843
Edgar Allan Peo - The Black Cat, 1843
November 29, 2025 at 12:04 PM
“The fever of my soul rendered every sight a maddening vision, and I was overtaken by a #delirium in which truth and nightmare danced as one.”
Edgar Allan Peo - The Black Cat, 1843
Edgar Allan Peo - The Black Cat, 1843
"The hate and anger that was coming out of him. I'd be quite honest, I was scared stiff."
- Wife describing her husband's #delirium.
- Wife describing her husband's #delirium.
November 28, 2025 at 7:53 AM
"The hate and anger that was coming out of him. I'd be quite honest, I was scared stiff."
- Wife describing her husband's #delirium.
- Wife describing her husband's #delirium.