The number of patient falls tumbles at Salisbury Hospital

Salisbury District Hospital has reduced the number of patients who fall while in the hospital by 54%.

This means our hospital is now performing better than the NHS national average. This improvement has beaten expectations and has been delivered a year ahead of schedule.

Nationally, patient falls in hospitals are the most commonly reported adverse event that can cause injury. While impossible to eradicate, there is much staff can do to prevent falls from happening and reduce the risk for those patients who are most likely to fall.

Thanks to a combination of comprehensive training, process improvements and the establishment of a multi-professional falls prevention group, the hospital has seen sustained improvements, and beaten the three-year target of a 30% reduction.

Angie Ansell, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, said: “Our aim is for our patients to be as safe as possible while in our care.

“By collectively focusing our efforts to prevent patients from falling, we are improving their overall care and experience and reducing their length of stay. This is good for the patient and good for the hospital.”

The hospital continues to monitor patient falls, along with other key metrics of patient safety and well-being, and is implementing other improvements to reduce the number of falls even more.