Falls Awareness Week: June 17-21 2013
Special sensors which alert healthcare staff when a patient at risk of a fall begins to climb out of their bed or chair without help are to be installed across Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust’s (NCH&C) inpatient units to boost safety.
The Trust has invested £32,000 in the innovative devices, which will be used across the county to monitor patients at high risk of having a fall, such as those with dementia or confusion.
The sensors are made of thin paper which is positioned underneath a mattress or chair cushion. If the patient becomes restless and starts to get up, the sensors send an electronic signal to mobile receivers held by nursing staff, who can then go and offer help.
The devices will be installed at: Cranmer House, in Fakenham; Kelling Hospital; Benjamin Court, in Cromer; North Walsham Hospital; Norwich Community Hospital; Swaffham Community Hospital; and Ogden Court, in Wymondham.
The announcement comes ahead of Age UK’s Falls Awareness Week, which starts on Monday (June 17-21), and follows a successful trial at Dereham Hospital’s Foxley Rehabilitation Unit.
Andrew Pover, Ward Manager at Dereham Hospital’s Foxley Ward, said: “During the trial, the sensors helped to ensure our staff could respond quicker to high risk patients so that they could intervene and offer help. This is especially important if patients are confused because of their medication, have a history of falling, or have a range of other illnesses, such as dementia.
“I am delighted the falls monitors are being rolled out to other units and am certain that they will play a significant part in reducing the risk of falls. They have made a real difference on our ward, not least because of the reassurance they have offered to our patients, their families, and our staff.
“If a patient falls, it can badly affect their confidence – regardless of whether they suffer an injury as a result. This can have an impact on whether they are happy to return home or end up going into care – so can have a huge effect on their entire life.
“If they do suffer an injury, they will inevitably have to stay in hospital for longer to receive further treatment, with hip fractures alone estimated to cost the NHS £1.4 billion each year.
“As such, anything we can do to reduce the risk of patients falling in the first place can only be money well spent.”
The new devices have been provided by N-Able, a social enterprise set up by Norse Commercial Services, which provides technology to help care for people.
“We are especially pleased to be working with such a forward thinking Trust as Norfolk Community Health and Care in pioneering these sensors in the county,” said N-Able Commercial Manager Linda Raphael. “N-Able provides a range of innovative technology products to help the elderly, frail and disabled both whilst in care and in their own homes.”
www.norfolkcommunityhealthandcare.nhs.uk
