HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2017: Patient Safety in the Community

An audit was carried out to determine the profiles of attendances to Queen’s Hospital Emergency Department. Residents from care homes who were admitted with falls were identified as a high risk group.

We worked with care homes, all stakeholders together with residents and carers to understand the relationships within the system and the barriers that the care home experienced and level of training undertaken.

The decision was made to concentrate efforts on the prevention of deterioration in care home residents in order to prevent attendance in ED where appropriate. A training package was developed, which reduced ED admissions by 57 per cent. 

The judges chose this innovative and cost effective initiative as the winner as it was not only sustainable, but has further potential in terms of its wider application to healthcare.