How BLMK ICB Are Improving the Outcomes of Falls In Care Homes With The Raizer | Case Study
Case Study At A Glance
The care homes within Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes (BLMK) ICB were having to call emergency services to respond to falls, due to a lack of appropriate lifting equipment and training, which was resulting in long lies and poor outcomes for the residents.
By implementing Raizer Lifting Chairs into care homes, BLMK ICB has enabled and equipped care homes to safely respond to minor and no-injury falls themselves, without having to rely on emergency services. This has improved the outcomes of falls and significantly reduced the impact falls have on the ambulance service and the system as a whole.
Background To The Project
The Challenge
Before the project started, care homes within Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes were not equipped or trained to be able to safely respond to minor and no-injury falls. Some care homes were using mobile hoists to lift fallers, but this solution was undignified for the residents and cumbersome for the care homes staff.
“Before we had the Raizer Chair we had been using the hoists. Having the full body hoist in a room can be sometimes too much and residents will panic.”
Anda Christina Marin, Manager, Burlington Hall Care Home
As a result, care homes defaulted to calling 999 to respond to the majority of falls, putting pressure on the already stretched ambulance service and putting the residents at risk of further harm from long lies.
“Paramedics would come out and obviously, due to the pressure of their work, you could be lying on the floor for a very, very long time.”
Karen Wilson, Deputy Manager, Verryan Place Care Home
The Solution
BLMK ICB tackled these problems through the implementation of Raizer Lifting Chairs and training into 175 care homes in their area, taking the pressure of minor and no-injury falls off the ambulance service and preventing long lies.
BLMK chose the Raizer Lifting Chair over other alternatives due to carers finding it easy and intuitive to use, making implementation and training straightforward.
“I was very keen to promote this easy-to-use product, and I could see that it could be used in the prevention of long lies in the care home.”
Helen Barker, Quality Improvement Nurse, BLMK ICB
Impact And Results
Reduction Of Unnecessary Ambulance Call-Outs And Long Lies
By responding to minor and no-injury falls themselves, care homes were reducing the number of unnecessary ambulance callouts, and enabling the ambulance service to respond to higher-priority calls, faster.
“Care homes that have the Raizer Chair are reporting that fewer ambulances are now needing to be called to help with getting residents up from the floor. This is really positive for the residents and the staff and it means that locally we have more ambulances available to respond to emergency calls.”
Sarah Pearson, Senior Commissioning Manager, BLMK ICB
Along with this, care homes feel upskilled and empowered to provide a timely and safe response to falls, which is preventing long lies from happening and results in much better outcomes for the residents.
“Improving the system in this way is improving the outcome for the residents in terms of reducing the number of long lies and supporting the care home staff to feel empowered to help the residents and improve their outcomes. Just as important is from a system and a resource perspective; we really need to ensure that we’re releasing ambulance capacity to respond to life-threatening calls.”
Sarah Pearson, Senior Commissioning Manager, BLMK ICB
Feedback From The Care Homes
Below is some feedback from the care homes that have been using the Raizer Chair to respond to falls, and the impact it is having on them and the residents:
“The staff have been really positive in their feedback. They’ve reported that it is easy to use, that they’re able to use the assessment tools that are provided and that the resident feedback has been excellent in that it’s comfortable and they’re able to get up from the chair much more easily and quickly.”
Debbie Blake, Quality Improvement Nurse, BLMK ICB
“With a Raizer Chair, it’s much easier because it goes under and it just lifts up without any hassle, so the resident isn’t stressed anymore and they feel safe.”
Anda Christina Marin, Manager, Burlington Hall Care Home
“One of our ladies slipped down in the lounge so we couldn’t move or manage to use the full body hoist so because we’ve got the Razor chair now it made it really easy for us to attend to her. there was no need to call the paramedics because we managed to put the razor chair and managed to City up with the Raizer Chair and she was fine; smiling and happy.”
Brenda, Senior Care Assistant, Burlington Hall Care Home
Feedback From The Residents
And below is some feedback from the residents themselves:
“I was in the bathroom and I put my hand out to catch the rail, missed the rail, and slipped onto the floor. Vicky came in with this piece of equipment, put it under my back, and within minutes I was up on the floor! It was good!”
Resident, Verryan Place Care Home
“I can vouch for it it is wonderful. You feel so secure when you’re actually on it and you’re starting to rise up and all the tension dissipates from the body. It’s wonderful.”
Resident, Burlington Hall Care Home
Learning And Conclusions
By implementing Raizer Lifting Chairs in Care Homes, Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes ICB are:
- Empowering care home staff and giving them the confidence to respond to falls
- Preventing long lies and improving the outcomes of falls for residents
- Reducing ambulance callouts
- Improving ambulance response time to category 1 and 2 callouts
How To Implement This In Your ICB
Having seen the positive impact that this project has had across Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes, how do you see this benefitting your ICB?
We can work with you to develop a bespoke solution tailored to your specific needs and guaranteed to significantly reduce ambulance callouts and improve the outcomes of falls in care homes. We can partner with you right from the initial project scoping through to monitoring, reporting and implementation.
To get the conversation started, feel free to call us on 01473 741144, email us at [email protected], or contact us using the form below.
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