Delivering Public health through emergency and secondary services
Delivering … Public health through emergency and secondary services partnerships A Model for Older People who Fall Mr Phil Kyle Dr John Davison F A S S
l l l * Mrs MD 61 years old Walking home on day of retirement from school Next recollection is being on the ground picking herself up Carries on with life…
…next 20 years l l * Intermittent falls Sees GP – tests normal 2005 - injures face with 1 fall – taken by ambulance to A&E Facial injury treated, Mrs MD heads home…
North East Ambulance Service • • • NEAS serves all of NE region population ~ 2. 6 million 3230 square miles 1750 employees 63 locations - 51 stations
l l l l * Awareness of high number of emergency calls for falls Prospective study - June-Dec 2004 NEAS data bank of patients > 65 years reporting a fall Assistance only calls All calls for a fall conveyed to A&E Proportions calculated from Census population data All fallers seen on site received standardised assessment - history, injury assessment, BP and pulse
Results l l l l Newcastle upon Tyne = 276 000 Population > 65 years = 42 000 NEAS attended 1504 falls in 7 month data period equivalent to 2600 annually Conveyed = 1339 (89%) Assistance only = 165 (11%) Median attendance time – 40 mins 62 falls per 1000 head of population > 65 years coming to NEAS per year … Service delivery target • 8 minutes Category A call response time *
Time on scene l Mean time on scene for non-conveyed = 30 mins (SD +- 10) l Mean time on scene for A&E conveyed = 14 mins (SD +- 16) l 377 hours of crew time on site in 7 mth period l £ 123 per hour on site l £ 117 per call out l Annualised cost in 2004 = £ 376 000 • 26% of those conveyed to A&E admitted • only 10% referred to liaison nurse • 64% discharged from A&E with no falls follow up *
Subjects > 50 Years attending A&E (n = 71, 279) Non-Fallers 59% Missing Data 7% * Fallers 34% (n = 24, 251) Richardson et al PACE 1997; 20: 8203
National Data - 999 calls for falls l 34% of patients with falls not conveyed after 999 call l In Newcastle – 34% of sheltered housing residents not conveyed l Median 34 minutes spent at scene Marks PJ. Emergency Medical Journal 2002; 19: 449 -52 l l Non-conveyed patients more likely to be • older • housebound • poorer cognition Close JC. Ageing 2002; 31: 488 -9 25% of all calls aged >65 years to London Ambulance Service due to a fall n = 534 / 2151 (2003 -4) l 49% made contact with medical services in next 2 weeks l 47% called 999 again at least once Snooks HA, Quality & Safety in Health Care 2006; 15(6): 390 -2 *
Risk Factors - Falls Presenting to A&E ( n=146) Balance Gait % with risk factor Median 5 fall Risk Factors identified (Range 1 -10) Medication Home Hazards Carotid Sinus Hypersensitivity Orthostatic Hypotension Vision Neurological Depression Vasovagal * Davison et al, Ageing 2005; 34: 162 -8
Falls can be prevented… PROFET study - 1999 l > 65 years attending A&E with fall (72% single fallers) l Medical and OT intervention l Day hospital referral for identified risk factors l 61% reduction in falls 510 falls in control gp (n=163) vs. 183 (n=141) - RR 0. 39 (95% CI 0. 23 - 0. 66) l Reduction in number continuing to fall – 59/141 vs 111/163 – RR 0. 61 (95% CI 0. 41 – 0. 77) Close et al, Lancet 1999; 353: 93 -7 Recurrent fallers attending A&E – 2005 l Medical, PT and OT intervention l 36% reduction in falls – 387 falls intervention gp (n=144) vs. 617 (n=149) - RR 0. 64 (95% CI 0. 46 - 0. 90) l No effect on fallers (68% control vs 65% intervention) Davison et al, Ageing 2005; 34: 162 -8 *
NICE guidance NICE CG 021, 2004 *
NEAS response… l Approaches to existing falls services - Falls & Syncope Service l Development of secure database (single PC – data backup) l Recording of all ambulance calls for falls l Raw data transfer from NEAS mainframe l Single operator data cleansing l Caldicott approvals sought l Data captured on – demographics, location, history of injury, recurrent fallers *
Hurdles l Data sharing Further Caldicott approvals sought to share information with other organisations l Consent – Patient consent to data sharing l Politics and Trust – Falls services in Newcastle provided by different service providers Transparency and trust to be established and maintained Agreed single point of referral – use of FASS as ‘hub’ for referrals l Referral mechanism and commissioning GPs informed of identification of faller (as per NICE guidance) and given optout, not opt in *
Screening tool used – Fall Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) l FRAT - valid within community fallers population l Developed with involvement of variety of health care workers, social workers, hospital discharge team, OT, PT l Designed for clinical or non-clinical staff l 3 or more risk factors +ve predictive value for a fall in the next 6 months = 0. 57 (95 % CI 0. 43 -0. 69) i. e. over half identified as high risk by tool, will fall l 2 or more risk factors sensitivity increases to 0. 59 (from 0. 42) +ve predictive value of 0. 43 (95% CI 0. 34 - 0. 53) Development and preliminary examination of the predictive validity of the Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) for use in primary care. Nandy S. Parsons S. Cryer C. et al. Falls Prevention Pilot Steering Group. Journal of Public Health. 26(2): 138 -43, 2004 Jun. *
Initial Deployment l Pilot with Newcastle frontline crews - 2005 l Initial take-up slow l Investigation to identify reasons for non-use Crews thought it was paper exercise only Crews thought it would be time consuming No feedback initially in place – this had to be developed to sustain crew involvement Politics - establishing trust for single point of access to falls services l Training – yearly refresher training - Paramedic / Technician / Emergency Care Support Worker l Feedback Crucial to motivate crews to continue referring *
Partnership working… no, really! Community Care Alarm Services l l Started in Newcastle with ‘Your Homes Newcastle’ Joint agency training • l Empowerment of frontline staff • l l ‘everybody has a part to play’ ‘your input can really make a difference for your client’ Feedback Ongoing Education District & Community Nurses and General Practitioners l l Modified training, but using the same tools Recognition of need to adapt to incorporate their existing expertise ‘empower, but not disenfranchise’ Social Services l Making the tool universal • ‘every key worker in every service’ • City and region • Cascade training and service delivery model l Local modification and personalisation of documentation to suit every need l Empowerment of ‘social carers’ to identify and signpost client need
How to maintain… l Keep communicating l Cascade training and shared training opportunities l ‘Give and get’ – data sharing for mutual benefit l Enter awards - teambuilding l Additional promotion within NEAS newsletters l Maintaining high profile at CEO level downwards l l * Regular updates in light of service developments and roll out to other agencies Feedback
The impact on 999 ambulance use ls 9 99 s all al rf fo c ts ll s se s sa Fa * s n me
Ambulance savings… 1 st Jan 2010 to 31 st May 2011 Ambulances Activated PCT Newcastle PCT 335 Conveyed Activity 117 Cost £ 22, 932 Non Conveyed Activity 218 Cost £ 37, 060 Fallers who have fallen 2 times within this period = 7 Fallers who have fallen 3 or more times within this period = 5 All repeat fallers have been referred to falls services 10 Calls from YHN with 9 admissions and 1 refusal staying at home * Total Cost £ 59, 992
…and Mrs MD l l l * March 2009 Walking when suddenly fell into bed of daffodils Ambulance called Referral received by FASS – 12. 3. 09 Prolonged heart rate monitor shows pauses of 2. 5 seconds, heart rate down to 38 bpm Pacemaker implanted – no further unexplained falls
l New challenges l Maintaining partnership working in the face of ‘any willing provider’ l Embedding the model within Joint Strategic Needs Assessments l Cultivating the commissioner l Reduction in hospital admissions l How to address non-responders l Maintaining trust and communication – developing shared priorities *
Questions?
Partners… Dr Fiona Shaw, Consultant Physician * F A S S
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