Age UK Norwich and NNUH work together in reducing falls

A new Falls Prevention video highlights the risks for older people and how health services and the voluntary sector can work together to reduce falls in hospital and in the community.

The video is part of a programme of action at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and Age UK Norwich to reduce patient falls which are the most frequently reported patient safety incidents in NHS hospitals and are a common, cause of injury in the community.

Anna Skipper, NNUH Falls Management and Prevention Lead, says: “Using real life experiences in the video we show how simple steps can be taken by health professionals to prevent falls, such as reviews of medication, providing information on exercises and falls prevention, and signposting to other services.

“Making improvements has involved training staff, using technology and changing our processes to reduce the number of these incidents on our wards. There has also been collaborate working across the Integrated Care System to raise the profile of Healthy and Active Ageing as part of the falls and frailty prevention agenda.

“This summer our hospital saw the lowest number of patient falls since we began the programme, with our hospital performing well against those with much younger patient profiles across the country.

“The video provides another dimension to this work and listening to people’s experiences gives us the opportunity to learn about the things that we do well and consider where we can make further improvements.”

Michael Barber, Health & Community Support Manager, says: “Producing this video in partnership with the NNUH has been a real positive. Hearing directly from people who attend our classes, to understand the life events that impacted them over many years, their experiences with different parts of our health and care system, clearly shows how we need to think more about frailty, falls prevention and recovery. With our ageing population, its paramount we make every contact count, as we see every day the impact a fall can have on someone’s everyday life. “

Based on real life case studies, the video has been co-produced by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Age UK Norwich and will be used in staff training sessions.

See the video: https://youtu.be/a0iHqjhO_fQ?si=GhQjvYfskCJVpEma