How we saved one NHS ward £417,000 in one year

We were delighted to be shortlisted in the Acute sector of the NHS Excellence in the North Supplier awards at The Royal Armouries in Leeds in October 2019. Read on to see our abridged shortlisted entry:

How we saved one NHS ward £417,000 in one year

The National Audit of Inpatient Falls (2017) identified that hospital inpatients in England experienced a quarter of a million falls during the year 2015/16. Falls are common patient safety incidents and result in over 2,500 hip fractures, a loss of confidence and slower recovery, potential litigation against hospital trusts and overall costs to hospitals of £630 million per year.

Possum and our partner Approach Medical Ltd worked with the Salford Royal NHS Trust in the Pendleton Suite to install the Paper Thin falls prevention solution to reduce falls and their associated distress and costs.

Over the last year the solution has been trialled within the Pendleton Suite and resulted in a reduction in the average monthly falls rate by 39%, from 12 to 7 falls per month and a reduction in falls in the toilet/bathroom by 47%. Our system is a class 1 medical device, is available via an NHS national framework agreement and is in use across the NHS.

Due to this reduction in falls, there was a cost reduction of £417,000 in the Pendleton Suite in the Salford Royal NHS Hospital.

We are also working with Airedale NHS Trust, who, since January, have experienced record numbers of fall free days, the best being no falls for 28 consecutive days, since they implemented Paper Thin Fall Management system in November 2018.