October 23, 2014, by Emma Rayner

Care home fall prevention initiative wins innovation award

A pioneering tool to help prevent falls among people in care homes developed by The University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and Nottingham CityCare Partnership, has won an award at the inaugural East Midlands Innovation in Healthcare Awards.

The awards, launched by the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN), recognise and celebrate the work of researchers, healthcare professionals and social care organisations to improve existing healthcare services for local people.

The University partnership’s ‘Guide to Action in Care Homes’ (GtACH) won one of seven awards from 90 entries across the region. The Guide is designed to help care home staff assess the risk of falling of individual patients in residential or nursing homes. The two page survey covers 37 risk factors associated with a person’s fall history, medical history, movement and environment and personal needs and gives tailored guidance on fall prevention for each factor.

Awarding the prize for the Patient Dignity and Experience category, the judges said there is clear evidence that this initiative has been effective, and it is a good example of partners working together to improve the patient experience.

Professor of Rehablitation Research in the University’s School of Medicine, Pip Logan, said: “We are delighted our initiative has received this accolade. We believe our fall prevention programme will increasingly make a real difference to the incidence of accidents and resulting injuries in care homes.”

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