Because of their heterogeneous health status, older people's health care needs differ. The concept of frailty, characterised by a decline in physiological reserve with increased vulnerability to stress, is emerging in clinical practice. Characterising older people by frailty could help to predict their prognosis and health outcomes. Further, consideration of frailty in clinical practice could facilitate the determination of patient-centred goals for effective care delivery. In the hospital setting, identification of frailty could guide management plans for older patients upon disposal from emergency departments; risk stratification by frailty allows appropriate decision making about surgical or invasive interventions; selection of frail people to acute geriatric wards for integrated care improves outcomes; end-of-life care for people at advanced stages of frailty improves the Frailty assessment: clinical application in the hospital setting