Matthew’s blog: “If we can help prevent people falling we can prevent so many health issues”

By Matthew Whittaker, Team Up Derbyshire

Data shows that Derbyshire has a high number of people who fall, with South Derbyshire seeing more incidents of falling due to an ageing population.

I am the Operational Lead for Team Up Derbyshire, I have a particular focus on preventing people from falling, especially in South Derbyshire.

As our population ages, more frail individuals are living among us, and it’s crucial that we help them stay fit and healthy so they can experience the best life they can.

Falls prevention work is essential because it identifies areas in people’s lives that can be improved through simple interventions.

These include their physical environment, their health and fitness, and their strength and balance.

If we can support patients to avoid having a fall, we can avoid so much more.

This includes loss of confidence, fractured bones, and soft tissue damage.

All of these can lead to more significant health issues.

Whilst preventing people from falling is important, it is just as important to help people recover after having a fall.

One of the key things our team have implemented is extending a service that helps people to recover after a fall.

Previously, this has only been available to certain people, but by working together, we have extended this so that we can support everyone who falls in their own homes, regardless of whether they were injured.

We know that those who have previously fallen are at an increased risk of more complications, so we are currently working to understand the impact of services, and where we can improve.

We have discovered that we can look at all the data in the world, plan the most perfect system, train the staff to the highest level, but unless it meets the needs of the patient when and where the patient needs it, we are wasting our time.

We have made great progress so far in connecting up teams and services to make caring for those who have fallen the best it can be.

We will keep listening to patients and learning from their stories and little by little make Derbyshire a better place to grow old.