SOUTH Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has won a national award for its initiative that provides care for older patients who have fallen over.
SWASFT won Best Care of Older People at the Health Service Journal’s patient safety awards. The initiative has seen volunteer community first responders attend incidents where an older person has fallen over and although uninjured, are unable to get up.
Responders use a lifting device to help the person back up with the help of 999 control rooms.
This has meant more frontline resources, such as ambulances, are freed-up for higher priority calls.
Rich Buckley, SWASFT Acting Responder Manager, said: “It is a wonderful acknowledgement of the hard work put in by all of our trained Responders. They give their time freely to support patients in their local communities in a robust and safe way. Without them this fantastic scheme could not work."
During the trial for the initiative 75 per cent of 300 incidents were solved with first responders without the need of further crews.
More than 60 CFR groups in the South West are now participating in this scheme.
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