Falls prevention and intervention work saving Welsh health and social care services millions of pounds each year

With the right support thousands of older people could avoid the need for care services due to a fall

National Falls Awareness Week 16 – 20 September 2024

Falls prevention work not only saves our health and social care services millions of pounds each year but it also saves potentially thousands of older people from needing care services, according to the The National Falls Prevention Taskforce Wales ahead of the national Falls Awareness Week 16 – 20 September 2024. 

The Falls Taskforce is an alliance focused on falls prevention for older people in Wales including Age Cymru, Age Connects Wales, Care & Repair Cymru, and St John’s Ambulance Cymru alongside representatives from all seven health boards, national and local government, public, private and other third sector organisations.

Since 2018, St John Ambulance Cymru’s Falls Response Service, provided on behalf of the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust, has helped more than 41,000 people. As few care workers or family members are trained to support people after a fall, such interventions saved an ambulance from attending a falls incident on more than 23,900 occasions.

Care & Repair Cymru and Swansea University recently undertook a joint study investigating the impact of the charity’s installation of modifications around the home on hospital admissions caused by a fall. It found that its interventions reduced the likelihood of a hospital admission from a fall by 17% in people aged 60+. 

Based on the number of adaptations Care & Repair delivered last year, this saved the Welsh NHS around £25,000,000 and the Welsh Ambulance Service more than £850,000 due to fewer hospital admissions and fewer ambulance call outs being required. Many of the interventions were relatively simple such as installing strategically placed grab rails, better lighting, and ramps over dangerous steps.

Age Cymru’s activity programmes play an important role in supporting older people to build core strength, fitness, and balance, which are all key to reducing their risk of falling over.  There are a range of activities to suit all levels of fitness and ability including chair-based activities, Nordic Walking, walking for health and wellbeing, and Tai Chi Qigong.  Delivered by volunteers, last year there were 37,559 physical activity sessions undertaken by older people across all the programmes. 

While the Age Cymru Partnership and Age Connects Wales help people to stay steady on their feet by the vital intervention of providing footcare and toenail clipping services around Wales.

According to NHS Wales falls are a common, but often overlooked, cause of injury.  It says around one in three adults aged over 65 and half of people aged over 80 will have at least one fall a year. 

Minister for Children and Social Care Dawn Bowden said:

“I applaud the invaluable work the National Falls Prevention Taskforce is doing, helping people to live well at home; preventing hospital admissions and making substantial savings, which can be invested into the NHS to deliver better outcomes for all. 

“Falls prevention is important to us, and I’m pleased a number of Welsh Government programmes continue to support this agenda, including the Regional Integration Fund, the Housing for Care Fund and the Independent Living Programme which delivers around 45,000 home adaptations across Wales every year.    

“This joint work will ensure the most vulnerable in our society feel empowered and safe, and help people live their best lives as independently as possible in their local communities.”

Taskforce chair, Heather Ferguson from Age Cymru, says “These community-based interventions to help prevent falls from happening or to reduce their impact make a vital contribution to our health and social care services worth millions of pounds each year as well as saving potentially thousands of older people from needing care services. 

“But even more importantly, they help thousands of older people to be safe and well so they can have the best experience of later life  

“It is therefore crucial that we continue to support these preventative and support services, including the third sector, and help ease some of the pressures facing our health and social care systems as they face the annual winter challenges.”

To further reduce the risk of falling in the community the Taskforce is launching a leaflet as part of National Falls Awareness week to empower older people with information on what may increase their risks of falling over and how to take a preventative action.

Case Study / Storyteller – Gina Ayling, Builth Wells

Gina fell walking up the steps to her back door. Her occupational therapist recommended a ramp and a set of rails to enable her to ride her scooter safely through her back door. Care & Repair Powys carried out the installation and, at the same time, helped Ms Ayling to claim additional benefits following a review of her financial situation. She can now travel safely into her local town and can continue living independently in her own home. 

For more information call Age Cymru on 029 2043 1555 email enquiries@agecymru.org.uk or visit www.agecymru.org.uk/falls