Oxford and Reading Cognitive Comorbidity, Frailty and Ageing Research Database-Electronic Patient Records (ORCHARD-EPR)

What is ORCHARD-EPR? 

 ORCHARD-EPR is a large research database using routinely collected hospital data from people aged over 65 who attend emergency or urgent care at Oxford University Hospitals and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trusts, covering a population of around 1.8 million. It includes information such as diagnoses, frailty, observations, lab results, and brain scans, alongside results from routine cognitive screening for conditions like dementia and delirium.

The dataset currently includes over 700,000 hospital episodes and continues to grow. By linking with mental health records and other research cohorts, ORCHARD-EPR allows researchers to study how physical and cognitive health interact, and how hospital care influences outcomes such as recovery, readmission, and survival.

Researchers are using ORCHARD-EPR in several ways:

• Dr Emily Boucher is studying frailty and validating hospital cognitive screening tools across different specialties.

• Dr Sanchit Turaga is studying dementia patients and various dementia subtypes.

• The NIHR i4i programme is developing algorithms to predict future cognitive decline and dementia, with the aim of integrating these tools into hospital systems to identify at-risk patients early.

• In collaboration with Professor Peter Rothwell and Associate Professor Ramon Luengo-Fernandez, the team is investigating how infection and delirium after stroke or TIA affect long-term dementia risk.

• Dr Mary Miller is leading work exploring links between hospital care, cognitive health, and palliative care needs.

• Dr Elise Milosevich (ARUK Race Against Dementia Fellow) is studying how infection and inflammation contribute to dementia after stroke.

Together, this work aims to improve early identification of cognitive problems and support better care for older patients during and after hospital admission.