23 January 2009
An innovative new service developed by the NHS in Sheffield is helping to reduce the number of older people attending Accident and Emergency (A&E) and Minor Injury Units (MIU) following a fall.
The service has reduced the number of people re-attending A&E in the six months after receiving the service by 74 per cent and has helped to reduce elderly admissions to hospital for those who used the service as a result of a fall by 38 per cent.
The Therapy Falls Prevention Service was set-up in partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust following a three month pilot programme at the end of 2006.
Before the service was in place, elderly people who had fallen received little support to help reduce the risk of having another fall thus facing a further hospital admission. Potentially, they were at risk of going on to have other falls, which may have resulted in more serious injuries such as hip fractures.
The new Therapy Falls Prevention Service now offers people a tailored package of intervention and support to reduce the risk of them having another fall.
Following an initial assessment by a Therapist in A&E / MIU, patients who may benefit from the service are referred to a Falls Specialist Therapy Assistant, who work across the city as part of the Physiotherapy service.
A range of support can be provided from home visits to the provision of equipment and walking aids. Balance and strengthening exercises can also be provided either in the patients own home or with others in a group setting.
Patients who received support have also been offered the opportunity to comment on how useful they had found the service. Of those patients surveyed 97 per cent rated the Therapy Falls Prevention Service as either Excellent or Good and over half felt their risk of future falls had been reduced.
One user said they could not “praise this service highly enough!” and another thought it was a “great service, received at home.” Another commented…
“the exercises they have put me through have been and will remain extremely beneficial in getting and keeping me on the road again!”
For more information about the Therapy Falls Prevention Service please contact Mandy Higginbottom, Clinical Manager, Physiotherapy Services, 0114 2319820