{"id":5032,"date":"2026-04-21T10:40:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cognitionconferences.com\/surgery\/?post_type=speaker&p=5032"},"modified":"2026-04-23T06:59:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T06:59:43","slug":"neil-thakrar","status":"publish","type":"speaker","link":"https:\/\/cognitionconferences.com\/surgery\/speaker\/neil-thakrar\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Thakrar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction: <\/u><\/p>\n

Some institutions have establised Perioperative medicine for Older People Undergoing Surgery (POPS) services, demonstrating clinical benefits for frail and multimorbid patients (1). Geriatricians in Leicester piloted a vascular-liaison service, delivering comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and optimisation for those with a clinical frailty score (CFS) \u2265 5 and lower limb pathology. We aimed to improve CFS accuracy by the vascular team compared to geriatricians through a structured teaching programme and use of a mobile application.<\/p>\n

Methods:<\/u><\/p>\n

We conducted a mixed-methods quality improvement project, comprising two PDSA cycles: (a) a six-week teaching programme on frailty and geriatric syndromes, and (b) use of a mobile application, endorsed by the British Geriatrics Society, to score frailty. We compared percentage CFS accuracy and assessed inter-rater agreement between the vascular team and geriatricians using the kappa statistic, with p<0.05 as significant. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of free-text qualitative feedback on post-teaching surveys.<\/p>\n

Results:<\/u><\/p>\n

Percentage CFS accuracy rose from 35% at baseline to 58% post-interventions. Inter-rater agreement improved from borderline-fair pre-intervention (\u0138=0.21, p<0.001) to moderate (\u0138=0.47, p<0.001) after cycle two. We found a reduction in mortality in patients with frailty (7.5% from 10.6%) and a reduction in emergency readmissions (12% from 32%). Thematic analysis of post-teaching feedback produced three themes: (a) improved self-reported ability in managing complexity in older patients with multimorbidity; (b) improved integration between medicine and surgery; (c) perceived improvements in patient safety attributable to the training.
\n
\nConclusion:<\/u><\/p>\n

In this pilot, targeted education on frailty and geriatric syndromes refined CFS accuracy by non-geriatricians on the vascular ward, improving accurate identification of patients to refer to the POPS service for CGA. Subsequently, geriatrician-led input for identified patients improved mortality and emergency readmission rates. Training and education within host surgical teams to identify suitable patients is therefore imperative for POPS service development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5033,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"schedule":[5],"speaker-category":[6],"class_list":["post-5032","speaker","type-speaker","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schedule-day-1","speaker-category-speakers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNeil Thakrar | University Hospitals of Leicester| United Kingdom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr Neil Thakrar is an Internal Medicine Resident in Leicester, UK and an aspiring geriatrician with an interest in perioperative medicine for older people undergoing surgery (POPS). He is Associate PI for the Leicester site of POPS-SUp, a multi-centre initiative to upscale perioperative medicine services for patients with frailty. Neil won The Kate Granger Prize 2025 from the British Geriatrics Society for leading a training programme for surgical team members to accurately assess frailty, ensuring suitable patients were referred for geriatrician input, permitting pre-operative optimisation, shared decision-making and management of post-operative medical complications.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cognitionconferences.com\/surgery\/speaker\/neil-thakrar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neil Thakrar | University Hospitals of Leicester| United Kingdom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr Neil Thakrar is an Internal Medicine Resident in Leicester, UK and an aspiring geriatrician with an interest in perioperative medicine for older people undergoing surgery (POPS). 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Neil won The Kate Granger Prize 2025 from the British Geriatrics Society for leading a training programme for surgical team members to accurately assess frailty, ensuring suitable patients were referred for geriatrician input, permitting pre-operative optimisation, shared decision-making and management of post-operative medical complications.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cognitionconferences.com\/surgery\/speaker\/neil-thakrar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advanced Surgery, Anesthesia & Pain Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T06:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cognitionconferences.com\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Neil-Thakrar-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cognitionconferences.com\\\/surgery\\\/speaker\\\/neil-thakrar\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cognitionconferences.com\\\/surgery\\\/speaker\\\/neil-thakrar\\\/\",\"name\":\"Neil Thakrar | University Hospitals of Leicester| United Kingdom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cognitionconferences.com\\\/surgery\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cognitionconferences.com\\\/surgery\\\/speaker\\\/neil-thakrar\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cognitionconferences.com\\\/surgery\\\/speaker\\\/neil-thakrar\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cognitionconferences.com\\\/surgery\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Neil-Thakrar-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-21T10:40:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-23T06:59:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dr Neil Thakrar is an Internal Medicine Resident in Leicester, UK and an aspiring geriatrician with an interest in perioperative medicine for older people undergoing surgery (POPS). 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