Improving health outcomes for frail elderly residents in Knowsley

Knowsley’s Falls Team was successful in bidding for funding from NHS Cheshire and Merseyside (the ICB) for a project to help improve health outcomes for frail elderly residents who are vulnerable to falls in care environments.

The team has worked with care homes, NWAS and Extra Care Buildings to provide Safe Lifting devices and train staff on using these devices, as well as an NHS-accredited app called “ISTUMBLE” that enables staff to respond to residents who have fallen, clinically triage them for injury, and reduce the number of avoidable ambulance attendances and hospital admissions.

The project means that the majority of residents who have a fall can be safely lifted in a matter of minutes by someone within their community setting, without the need for a paramedic call out and review in many cases.

Headline achievements to date include:

• More than 20 Safe lifting devices have been provided across Knowsley in Care Homes and Extra Care Facilities
• More than 100 staff have received training on how to use devices that safely lift patients who have fallen, and the “ISTUMBLE” app

The project has also helped to reduce the amount of “long lies”, ambulance call-outs and hospital attendances that would have previously been necessary amongst residents.