Quality of Care Report 2010 - 2011 - Wimmera Health Care Group

Falls Monitoring And PreventionFalls are one of the most widespread and serious injury problem faced by the elderly in our community. Each year, one thirdof people aged over 65 will experience a fall. People in hospitals and residential facilities have even higher fall rates as aresult of sickness and frailty, altered routines and surroundings.The frequency of falls is made worse by the greater vulnerability of the elderly and infirm, to serious injury. In older people,even comparatively small falls can result in death and significant injury. People who experience falls also suffer increasedanxiety levels and social withdrawal¹.Wimmera Health Care Group has been actively monitoring and managing falls for a number of years. Sometimes we are notable to prevent somebody from falling – for example a resident with dementia and who is unsteady when walking is at highrisk of falling, however the only way to stop this resident from falling is to restrain them. As restraining people is dangerouswe would instead try to minimise the harm to the resident if they did fall. The organisation has also been working with staff,patients, residents, families and carers to prevent falls where possible and minimise harm to those people in whom fallscannot be prevented.The falls reduction and harm minimisation strategies implemented are ongoing and have included:• Earlier recognition of those patients and residents who are at high risk of falling and using strategies to reduce this risk;• Planning patient and resident care according the patients residents risk of falling;• Use of sensor mats, which alert staff when a patient and resident has moved from their bed or chair;• Use of lift care beds, which lower the mattress to floor level which reduces the risk of injury as the person rolls outof bed, rather than falling from a height; and• Use of hip protectors. Hip protectors are plastic shields or foam pads which provide substantial protection againsthip fracture during a fall or impact onto the hip.Reference:1. Preventing falls and harm from falls in older people. The Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2005.6050403020100July2010Aug2010Sept2010Oct2010Nov2010Dec2010Jan2011Feb2011Mar2011Apr2011May2011June2011This chart is an example of information available for people at risk of falling.This graph shows the recorded incidents of falls for each month in the 12 months between July 2010 and June 2011. The number of falls is trendingdownwards as can be seen on the trend line (grey line).(Source: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/internet/safety/publishing.nsf/Content/1D340710CCBB1C40CA25744F001DE63E/$File/FP-brochure.PDF)40Pursuing excellence in careWimmera Health Care Group Quality of Care Report 2010/201141