Patient falls are a significant concern in healthcare – particularly in hospital settings where they represent the most frequent clinical risk. Current falls prevention strategies show variability in effectiveness and implementation across different health services.

The Victorian Falls Prevention Alliance is working collaboratively to reduce falls injuries in hospitals – led by Professor Cathy Said and guided by a committee of allied health researchers, consumers and health services leaders from across the MACH, Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre and Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre networks. The Alliance is overseen by the Victorian Research Translation Centre Collaborative.

Alliance Allied Health representative and Associate Director of Allied Health at Northern Health Uyen Phan (pictured below) says the Alliance is playing a crucial role in helping health services implement evidence-based guidelines.

Headshot of Uyen Phan smiling at the camera. He has short black hair and is wearing rimmed glasses and a blue suit jacket and shirt.

“There’s lots of research out there about what works and what doesn’t. As a clinician, my concern is that this knowledge isn’t easily accessible for health services. That is, what do I need to do as a health service to minimise falls? What strategies should I implement?

“The Alliance is really building up to be the peak falls body in Victoria: a central point for sharing information and resources to help prevent falls across different health services.”

This includes the World guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults – published in 2022 to help ensure a more standardised and evidence-based approach.

“At our May Workshop, we came together to discuss and analyse the guidelines. In October, we’re having a community of practice session to discuss how the strategies can be implemented across the various health services,” Mr Phan says.

“We’re certainly moving from research and evidence into implementation, which is ultimately what’s going to help prevent patient falls in hospitals.”

Implementing best practice

Werribee Mercy Hospital Clinical Nurse Educator Steph Bruce says an increase of patients being admitted who are sicker and with many comorbidities has led to higher rates of falls.

“Being able to attend the Victorian Falls Prevention Alliance meetings and bring best practice back to Werribee is fantastic.”

Ms Bruce says, after attending her first Alliance meeting in late 2023, the Mercy Falls Committee investigated their falls procedures – finding that some weren’t best practice.

This resulted in a range of strategies being implemented, including the introduction of a ‘post-fall huddle’, de-implementation of grip socks and, more recently, the trial of a new risk screening and assessment tool.

“Previously, the answers were all score based,” says Ms Bruce. “Drawing from the Alliance’s recommendations, the new assessment tool only requires a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response from patients – meaning they are either a high falls risk or are not.

“If a patient answers ‘yes’ to any of the questions in section ‘a’, which is focused on delirium, mobility and medications, we automatically move to section ‘b’, which is about putting additional falls prevention strategies in place.”

Ms Bruce says staff are finding the new assessment faster and much easier to follow.

“The goal is quickly identifying patients at high risk of falls, but it also means staff spend more time at the bedside, rather than writing notes.”

Based on the initial results, Mercy Health is currently implementing the tool across their Werribee and Heidelberg campuses.

Ms Bruce says Alliance meetings allow health services to discuss strategies with other organisations who may have already successfully implemented. 

“Northern Health spoke about the barriers faced while de-implementing grip socks. Knowing what to expect in advance gave us the confidence to move ahead.

“It’s great to know we’re all in it together. Every time we’ve attended a meeting, we’ve come back excited and ready to make change.”

Drawing from lived experience

As the Alliance’s consumer representative, Stephen Peterson (pictured below) is also keen to implement change.

“I commend the Alliance for bringing me on board, because the role of a consumer is very important, and I’m delighted I’ve got the chance to contribute to such a worthwhile organisation.”

Mr Peterson was driven to become a consumer representative after witnessing the impact of falls first-hand.

“In the last 18 months of his life, my father had a few falls. Unfortunately, the third broke his hip, and he died a month later,” he says. “Looking back, these experiences really helped me understand and appreciate the risk of elderly people having a fall, wherever they might be.”

Since retiring 10 years ago, Mr Peterson says he has volunteered in aged care and other organisations focussed on the elderly, where the issue of falls is “never far away”.

“I like to see ideas and research implemented, being utilised and giving benefit to the elderly.

“There’s a lot of learning to be done out in the broader community. And that’s where I believe the Alliance has an essential role to play, now and into the future.”

Watch the 2024 Victorian Falls Alliance Annual Workshop

Topics covered include:

  • implementation of the global falls guidelines
  • falls prevention in people with dementia
  • nutrition in falls prevention: better food leads to better outcomes
  • falls prevention for people with behaviours of concern.