Media and speaking

Alasdair MacLullich is Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He designed the 4AT delirium assessment tool, edits the journal Delirium and chairs the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit.

Alasdair MacLullich is Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant geriatrician at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where he works in acute geriatric medicine and orthogeriatrics. His research is on delirium: how to detect it, what follows it and how care can help recovery. In 2011 he designed the 4AT, a short bedside test for delirium, with Tracy Ryan and Helen Cash. NICE and SIGN recommend it. He co-founded the European Delirium Association in 2006 and was its President from 2012 to 2015. He is Editor-in-Chief of Delirium and chairs the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit.

Alasdair MacLullich is Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant geriatrician at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He works in acute geriatric medicine and acute orthogeriatrics, the care of older people with fractures.

His research is on delirium: how to detect it, its links with dementia and death, and how care can help recovery. In 2011 he designed the 4AT, a short bedside test for delirium, with Tracy Ryan and Helen Cash, and he remains responsible for its updates. The 4AT has been studied in more than 30 diagnostic accuracy studies and is available in more than 20 languages. NICE recommends it in its 2023 delirium guideline, and SIGN in its 2019 guideline.

He co-founded the European Delirium Association in 2006 and was its President from 2012 to 2015. He was a founding member of iDelirium, which started World Delirium Awareness Day in 2016. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Delirium and chairs the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit.

He writes for clinicians and for the public. His books are The 4AT Manual (2026) and, with Dr Sharmella Summan, a family guide to delirium (2026). He also runs free websites about delirium, including Delirium Support for families and Delirium Academy for staff. His awards include the William Farr Medal of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries (2017).

Professor Alasdair MacLullich is a geriatrician at the University of Edinburgh. He designed the 4AT, the delirium test that NICE and SIGN recommend, and he edits the journal Delirium.