New falls vehicle coming soon to Norfolk

The Trust is committed to local collaboration and clinical innovation. A pilot to help care for patients who have suffered a fall in Norfolk is launching soon.

Joining forces with Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust (NCH&C) we will be running two early intervention vehicles (EIV).

The vehicles will have a senior emergency medical technician (EMT) on board and an occupational therapist from the community trust, and will be dispatched to patients who have fallen.

Patients will be assessed at the scene and if they do not require transport to hospital, the patient will be given the help and support to help avoid falls in the future. This aims to take some pressure off emergency departments and get the right care for patients.

Six EMTs have received a week of refresher training to treat elderly frail patients ahead of the three month trial being launched.

Diane Chan, Senior Locality Manager for EEAST, said: “Elderly fallers are one of our most common types of call. This project puts an alternative pathway in place so that they can stay at home by putting measures in place such as hand rails, removing trip hazards and reviewing a patient’s medication.

“Thank you to everyone involved with the project for all your hard work”.

Robert Morton, Chief Executive, said: “Thank you to our Norfolk and Waveney leadership for working to secure executive support for this important initiative which has the potential to reduce conveyances, improve patient experience and reduce late finishes and handover delays.”

The first team to work on the vehicle are Emergency Medical Technician Michael Hall and Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist, Helen Nku.

Published 12th January, 2017