How NHS cash will help cut Notts hip fracture rates

The NHS in Notts wants to give health checks and home assessments to people at risk of falling – to slash our hip fracture rates. ROB PARSONS reports.

AT 89, Doris Goodchild admits she has suffered a few bumps on her head from falls at her home.

Six years ago the former hosiery worker fell and ruptured all the tendons and muscles around the knee.

With no support for her left knee, she started to fall regularly and sometimes needed an ambulance to come to her bungalow in Aslockton, near Bingham.

Despite grab rails, a trolley to get around and a modified shower being installed to help her, the accidents continued.

Last year she was given help by Kate Robertson, a clinical falls specialist from Notts Community Health.Every five or six weeks they meet to discuss whether the pensioner has fallen, and her health. It seems to have paid off – it has been weeks since Mrs Goodchild has fallen.

She said: "I have been falling for around six years. I have to have help getting up – I have had some nice bumps on my head.

"People should take the help that is offered. There is no good in struggling if you can have something to ease it."

She is one of the many elderly people in Notts who fall in their homes each year – contributing to the county's high rate of hip fractures. Nearly 600 over 65s outside the city were taken to hospital with fractured hips last year – one of the worst rates in the country. Some £4m was spent on hospital treatment and rehabilitation as a result of hip fractures – and a further £13m on dealing with other falls.

Exercise

Primary care trust officials at NHS Notts County have made tackling the problem a priority.

An extra £2.2m a year will be spent on measures that could help up to 63,000 people.

The majority of these people will get a full clinical assessment, including reviews of medication to get a better idea of their risk of falling. Others will have their homes made safer with adaptations and mobility aids, though some of this will be paid for by council social services budgets. Thousands more will get courses of the Otago exercise programme – developed in New Zealand in their homes.

Despite Notts' high rates of hip fractures, bosses are trying to find out why over-65s in the county are more likely to fall and break bones than elsewhere. A study is taking place in residential and care homes in Broxtowe borough.

NHS falls expert Nikki Hughes said: "A lot of people don't report it. They need that crucial medical assessment. A lot fall because of ill-health."

Notts – outside the city of Nottingham – has the second highest fracture rate of 28 comparable primary care trusts in the country. Its rates are the highest in the East Midlands and worse than those of neighbouring Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The worst areas are Broxtowe borough and Ashfield, which are both in the top 20% in the East Midlands.

Experts say poor health, caused by poor diet and a lack of exercise, is a major factor. Half the elderly people who suffer a fractured hip never regain independence – and one in five die from the injury. NHS bosses in Notts say plans to cut the number of hip fractures by 15% will save a total of £270,000 a year by keeping people out of hospital.

The city of Nottingham has a slightly lower rate of hip fractures than Notts but is still above the national average. Anyone who wants help to reduce their risk should contact their GP.

robert.parsons@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk