How BNSSG ICB are using Raizer Chairs to significantly improve the outcome of falls in care homes | Short Case Study
Case Study at a Glance
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) ICB were experiencing high numbers of callouts and hospital conveyances as a result of falls in care homes.
By implementing Raizer Lifting Chairs, alongside a post-fall assessment tool based on HelpFall, they have seen these calls and conveyances significantly reduce, positively impacting the patients, the care homes, the ambulance service, and the system as a whole. One care home, in particular, experienced a 100% reduction in ambulance call-outs to falls as a direct result of the project.
Read on to find out more…
The Case Study Video
The Challenge: High numbers of calls and conveyances from falls in Care Homes
The Specialist Falls Service at BNSSG ICB were seeing high numbers of ambulance callouts to falls in care homes in their area, and subsequently, high numbers of conveyances to hospital, taking up precious ambulance resource and hospital capacity.
A lack of confidence amongst care home staff to respond to falls, combined with a lack of appropriate post-fall assessment tools and patient lifting equipment, was causing the care homes to call the ambulance service to respond to falls by default.
Furthermore, in the BNSSG area, 24% of fallers admitted to hospital had less than a 5-hour stay in the A&E Department, which makes you question; did they even need to go to the hospital in the first place?
The Solution: Implementing Raizer Chairs alongside a traffic light post-fall assessment tool
To improve the outcomes of falls in care homes, the Specialist Falls Service at BNSSG set out to work with the care homes in their area to implement effective and easy-to-use lifting equipment, alongside a clear post-fall assessment tool, in view to enable the care homes to respond to the majority of falls themselves.
Alongside the Raizer 2 Lifting Chairs, BNSSG chose to implement a traffic-light post-fall assessment system, based on the same model as HelpFall, as it was a tried and tested effective model which they were already familiar with.
The team worked with the care homes to set out standardised procedures for what to do when responding to amber (minor injury) and green (non-injury) falls, to ensure the falls were either responded to by the care home themselves or by the local falls response service, keeping the burden of minor and non-injury falls off emergency services.
Through a combination of physical and virtual training sessions, for both the Raizer Lifting Chair and assessment tool, the staff in the care homes were qualified and empowered to safely assess and respond to falls without having to call emergency services.
The Impact and Results: Reduced callouts and conveyances due to falls, and improved outcomes in care homes
Through enabling and empowering the care homes to assess and respond to falls themselves, the project has resulted in the number of ambulance callouts and conveyances due to falls in care homes being significantly reduced. In one care home alone, ambulance callouts and conveyances due to falls were reduced by 100% after the implementation of the Raizer chair and assessment tool.
Furthermore, the project has promoted place-based care and improved the outcomes for the residents. Rather than having to wait for an ambulance and be conveyed to a hospital, residents are being responded to in a way that ensures the best outcome for them, the care homes, and the system.
Feedback from the care homes…
“When you compare the use of Raizer lifting equipment to other lifting equipment we’ve been using in the Homes, we’ve always been taught that you have to be two people to use the lifting equipment. But with the Raizer 2, if you have done the training, and you’re confident enough, and once you’ve done your assessment from the fall, you can go ahead and put the equipment together, and assist the resident to stand up, all by yourself.”
Francis, Team Leader, Katherine House
…from the residents…
“It was just mind-blowing! …all of a sudden I was positioned, and it was easy and didn’t hurt! And the relief of being upright was, well, it’s just unexplainable. This relief of getting up and knowing that you haven’t got to go to the hospital.”
Resident, Katherine House
…and from the ICB
“One of the Care Homes, in particular, did have quite a reputation for a high level of falls. So, in the last 30 days, I think, they’ve had about 52 falls. Now, before our project, they admit they would have called the Ambulance because of their policies for every single fall they had….30 days after our implementation of the project with the traffic light training and the Raizer, they’ve had no Ambulance calls, they’ve had no conveyances to hospital. So, just in that one Care Home, we can see massive differences in the number of callouts and conveyances due to falls from care homes.”
Donna Thomas, Project Lead, BNSSG ICB
Learnings & Conclusions
By successfully implementing Raizer Lifting Chairs alongside a post-fall assessment tool in care homes, BNSSG are:
- Reducing the number of ambulance calls and admissions to hospitals due to falls in care homes
- Enabling the emergency services and emergency departments to prioritise high-acuity patients
- Improving outcomes for residents and promoting place-based care
- Improving the level of care in the care homes
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