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The staff on ward 9 North at the Royal Free Hospital are proving they are real leaders when it comes to inpatient falls prevention. In 2014 the ward reduced their number of falls by 41% by introducing ‘team nursing’, identifying patients at a higher risk of falling from the point of admission and ensuring an appropriate level of observation was maintained.
Ward manager Jillian Bradley said: “The nursing and ward multi-disciplinary team have worked incredibly hard to proactively manage the care of HSEP (healthcare services for elderly patients) on 9 North, with a particular focus on falls prevention and reducing subsequent harm. This patient centred team approach has been integral to our success – we also won an OSCaR team award for ‘outstanding contribution to patient safety’ because of this work, which was amazing!”
Other work to address falls prevention included the development of online incident reporting for falls, a new falls portal on Freenet, the trust's intranet, a trust wide falls study day for MDT staff, changing from hospital form slippers to non-slip socks and the procurement of low-profile beds at the Royal Free Hospital and a harmonised update of the trust falls policy.
Geekita Singh, trust falls lead said: “In addition to all of these developments, the falls reduction and injury prevention improvement work on other wards at the Royal Free Hospital actually began in 2013. This improvement project was led by a multi-disciplinary working group and the result has been excellent – I would like to thank everyone who has been involved. Many of the principles learned on 9 North will be rolled out across the trust later this year.”
Trust falls study day
The next falls study will take place on 12 February 2015 – if you are a member of staff and would like to attend or for more information about the success of falls prevention at the trust, please contact Geekita Singh on 020 7794 0500 x31203 or email geetika.singh@nhs.net.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Media contacts: rf.mediaenquiries@nhs.net
About the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Free began as a pioneering organisation and continues to play a leading role in the care of patients. Our mission is to provide world class expertise and local care. In the 21st century, the Royal Free London continues to lead improvements in healthcare.
The Royal Free London attracts patients from across the country and beyond to its specialist services in liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantation, haemophilia, renal, HIV, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, immunology, vascular surgery, cardiology, amyloidosis and scleroderma and we are a member of the academic health science partnership UCLPartners.
In July 2014 Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital became part of the Royal Free London.
