How Mid & South Essex UCRT are using the Raizer to respond to falls and reduce pressure on the Ambulance service
Case Study at a glance
Mid & South Essex Urgent Community Response (MSE UCR) Service implemented falls response using Raizer Lifting Chairs to enable them to respond to falls and reduce pressure on the ambulance service.
Where previously they would have to call an ambulance out to a fallen person, the UCR Team can now get out to fallen people in less than two hours, getting them up from the floor and providing a wraparound support service to keep them in their own homes – removing the costs associated with ambulance callouts and hospital admission.
On average the Raizer chairs are used 15 times per week by the UCR Team, preventing 15 ambulance callouts per week. Over 12 months, that means 780 fewer Ambulance callouts. At an average cost of £252, this represents a projected saving of £196,560 every year.
The challenge: Long lies and lack of a falls response solution
The Mid & South Essex Urgent Community Response (UCR) Team deliver urgent crisis response care in people’s homes following a change in their health or circumstances. Before the MSE UCR Team introduced Raizer Lifting Chairs, they were unable to respond to a patient who had fallen and needed assisting from the floor. Without a falls response service, they would have to call the Ambulance service and wait until an Ambulance could attend with their equipment.
Ambulance response times for non-urgent calls meant patients were experiencing long lies. A long lie puts the fallen person at high risk of complications like skin breakdown, pressure ulcers and rhabdomyolysis, increasing the likelihood of hospital admission. A patient who is admitted following a fall and a long lie typically needs more interventions, and they are at high risk of deconditioning and an extended hospital stay. This means that they are discharged with more complex needs and need greater support in the community.
The Solution: Implementing Raizer Lifting Chairs
In answer to these challenges and to reduce pressure on the Ambulance service, the MSE UCRT added falls response to their service offering using Raizer Lifting Chairs.
What is the Raizer?The Raizer is a motorised lifting chair that assembles around a fallen person and lifts them up to a seated or perching position. It is easy to assemble and use for the caregiver, and it is safe, smooth and very reassuring for the fallen person.
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As Ryan Cossington-Webb (Head of the UCR service) and Claire Palmer (Clinical Manager for the UCR and Single Point Of Access) explain, the UCR Team – by working collaboratively – can now take calls directly from the ambulance service. When a fallen person calls 999 – either by phoning or pressing their pendant alarm – the call goes through to ECAT (ambulance control). The fallen person is triaged to ascertain if they have any injuries before being transferred to the UCR Team, who will dispatch clinicians to the patient’s home to lift them from the floor with the Raizer.
On average the Raizer chairs are used 15 times per week by the UCR Team, each time preventing an Ambulance callout.
The impact and results: how MSE UCRT have improved patient outcomes
Raizer Lifting Chairs have enabled the UCR Team to provide an improved level and quality of care. Previously, the patient could be on the floor for many hours while waiting for an ambulance. Instead, one of the UCR Team nurses or occupational therapists can get out to a patient within 2 hours – often much quicker – and use the Raizer to provide a fast emergency response and get them up off the floor.
“Our nurses, our occupational therapists can get out to patients within two hours face-to-face – often much quicker than that – and quickly get them up from the floor with the use of the Raizer chair”
Ryan Cossington-Webb
Head of Urgent Community Response at MSE
Having the capacity to deal with falls in the community has enabled the MSE UCR Team to treat more patients at home. By intervening early and supporting a patient from the floor with the Raizer, the UCR Team are improving patient experience and reducing the risks associated with long lies. Avoiding an A&E attendance or hospital admission reduces further risk to the patient, including deconditioning, loss of independence and exposure to hospital acquired infection. At a system level, this frees up capacity across acute settings and reduces future demand pressure. The ambulance service can improve response times for Category 1 and Category 2 calls, and the A&E department is able to see more patients within 4 hours.
What next for MSE UCR Team and the Raizer?
Mid & South Essex HCP are currently doing a lot of research and discussion around how they work collaboratively to integrate as organisations, and the Raizer forms a large part of this as they work on improving outcomes in their falls pathways. The next step is to work with domiciliary care providers to improve the coverage and capacity of community services to respond to falls and keep people in their own homes, reducing pressure on the Ambulance service
“We should be moving to a place where supporting our patients in our falls pathways in the communities is everyone’s business across our community services, rather than needing to call the Ambulance when someone has fallen.”
Ryan Cossington-Webb
Head of Urgent Community Response at MSE
Learnings and conclusions
By implementing the Raizer Lifting Chair as part of their service, the MSE UCR Team were able to;
- Prevent long lies associated with waiting for an Ambulance
- Provide a wraparound support service to fallers to keep them at home after a fall
- Prevent on average 15 ambulance callouts to non-injury and minor injury fallers per week, giving the Ambulance service capacity to answer urgent calls sooner
By doing this, they;
- Improved outcomes for the fallers by preventing long lies and keeping them at home
- Created significant efficiencies and cost benefits for the HCP by preventing the costs associated with ambulance callouts, hospital admissions, deconditioning and resulting community care packages
- Will have projected savings of 780 ambulance callouts over a 12 month period – at £252 per callout, a cost saving of £196,560 every year.
And click here to find out more about the Raizer 2 Emergency Lifting Chair