The Bedfordshire falls service is provided by Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS), the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) and the Trust's Bedfordshire Community Health Service (BCHS).
The model is thought to the first of its kind in the country.
The Falls Team provides fast and joined-up support, helping with the immediate situation through to considering prevention and care support.
The multi-agency falls team operates across Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton communities 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.
The trailblazing falls service was launched by ambulance and fire service partners in 2020 and has involved community health services as a pilot since March 2023.
Statistically, people aged over 65 are most likely to have a fall within their home in addition to being more at risk of harm if involved in a fire.
The falls team, who are mobilised by the EEAST control rooms, combine their skills in response, patient care and home safety.
The benefits of the collaborative model include:
- A quicker response to lower acuity falls patients
- In the vast majority of cases hospital transport is not required, enabling a home discharge
- A full home fire safety review can be conducted by the team
- It frees up ambulance crews to attend patients with life-threatening conditions and reduces ambulance call waiting times.
The addition of a community nurse to the falls response team has helped further develop the patient-centred approach. The nurse is able to use their expertise to help develop a tailored approach to the care of each patient.
This has resulted in an even greater level of home discharge and non-ambulance attendance.
The team have their own vehicle and their average response time to calls is 21 minutes.
“Bedfordshire Community Health Services are delighted to be partners in a project which is offering multi-agency expertise and person-centred support for patients and their family after a fall,” said Claire Porter, BCHS Urgent Response Implementation Lead.
“This hugely positive piece of work has also resulted in less need for an ambulance to attend patients who have fallen, and a greater ambulance resource available for high category responses in Bedfordshire.”
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Prevention lead, Group Commander Rob Hulatt said: “From a fire and rescue service point of view, we’re extremely excited by the opportunities created by this collaboration. The overarching aim is to enhance the patient experience by combining our current falls response and home fire safety package, with the focused patient centred skills and pathways available through East London Foundation Trust staff.
“The combination of the Fire and Rescue Service’s Response and Prevention expertise in addition to Bedfordshire Community Health practitioner’s patient specific knowledge and bedside manner, have resulted in a more tailored approach to patient care, in addition to reducing Ambulance mobilisations and subsequent Hospital admissions.”
Tom Barker, Community Response Manager for East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “EEAST is proud to be part of this collaborative partnership which is allowing for an enhanced service and response to lower acuity falls across the county. We are looking forward to seeing this partnership grow over the coming months.”