HEALTHY COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE LAUNCHES NATIONALLY: 60% REDUCTION IN FALLS ACHIEVED IN PILOT SITE

24 Sep 2003 01:15 PM

(Joint release from the Health Development Agency and the National Care Primary Development Team)

Dame Yve Buckland, Chair of the Health Development Agency - http://www.hda.nhs.uk - today launched the national roll-out of the Healthy Communities Collaborative (HCC) set up to reduce the number of falls in the over-65 population in disadvantaged areas of the UK. At present around 1750 people, over the age of 65, die every year from a fall. That is the equivalent to one every 5 hours.

HCC is an initiative from the National Primary Care Development Team (NPDT), which is delivered using evidence gathered by the Health Development Agency (HDA). It engages communities to improve health and reduce inequalities with particular emphasis of the subject of 'falls' in older people from disadvantaged communities. HCC arose from an entry in the NHS Plan under the heading 'new partnerships to tackle inequality'.

The key objectives are to engage community members in using improvement techniques to reduce falls in older people, thus impacting on the reduced life expectancy of older people in disadvantaged communities.

The statistics for falls in older people are astounding:

- Every 5 hours someone over the age of 65 dies from a fall in the UK
- In the over 65-age group more people die of falling than of Cancer or Coronary Heart Disease
- The NHS spends £1.7 billion per year on fractures from falling - 45% of the cost is for acute care, 50% for social care and 5% for drugs follow-up.
- 67% of non-fatal falls happen to an older person in the home and after a hip fracture 50% can no longer live independently.

At the beginning of the year, the NPDT began working with three NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and their local communities to create specific projects that would reduce falls. After only 9 months the number of falls in the pilots areas - Easington PCT, Gateshead PCT and Northampton PCT - were reduced by 60% by the NPDT. The national roll-out has the potential to dramatically improve the health and quality of life of many older people in Britain. Reducing admissions to hospital & care homes would save the NHS money and free up capacity for other patients.

Sir John Oldham, Head of the National Primary Care Development Team, says: “The Healthy Communities Collaborative has achieved outstanding results on reducing falls in older people. With the national roll-out the methods developed by the NPDT and tested by the pilot sites to help reduce the number of older people suffering falls can now benefit many more people in regions across the country.”

Dame Yve Buckland, Chair of the Health Development Agency, says: “As well as improving the lives of many older people by reducing numbers of falls, the second wave of the Healthy Communities Collaborative continues the excellent partnership between the HDA and the NPDT to improve public health practice. The learning gathered from this collaboration will then be disseminated by the HDA across the public health community.”

Notes to editors:

1. The National Primary Care Development Team (NPDT) aims to support individuals and organisations in programmes of work that will help them deliver rapid, systematic and sustainable improvement for patients and communities. At the same time, we aim to help people develop a set of practical, transferable skills in quality improvement that they can use in any area of their work.

2. The Health Development Agency is the national authority on what works to improve people's health and to reduce health inequalities. We work in partnership across sectors to support informed decision making at all levels and the development of effective practice.

3. Example projects from the pilot sites include:

- In Easington older people have been given a 'night light' that plugs into a socket. When it gets dusk the light comes on automatically as the majority of falls happen in the dark.
- In Gateshead the area is somewhat hilly and suffers a lot of power cuts. The HCC teams have provided older people with battery operated lights to decrease the number of falls in the dark.
- It is very important for older people to perform light exercise regularly to improve strength and balance. In the sites the teams organise regular free Tai Chi classes.
(Further detailed case studies are available by contacting Olivia Jones or Becky Rodi)

For further information or to arrange an interview, please call Olivia Jones (ojones@mediastrategy.co.uk) on 020 7234 0011/07976 287637or Becky Rodi (rrodi@mediastrategy.co.uk) on 020 7234 0011/07791 044021, or Dr Tonya Gillis (tonya.gillis@hda-online.org.uk), Health Development Agency Press Office, on 020 7061 3117.