NHS boss says rapid response teams will help victims of falls at home

2022-10-16

NHS boss says rapid response teams will be sent out to treat elderly people who call for help after fall at home so they are not left waiting for hours this winter

Amanda Pritchard hopes the plans will reduce pressure on ambulances and NHS
It could stop 55,000 elderly patients a year needing to be taken to hospital
Unprecedented delays have seen patients wait over 40 hours for ambulances
New community teams will support those who have had a fall at the scene

The boss of the NHS has said rapid response teams will be sent out to treat elderly people who call for help after a fall at home so they are not left waiting for hours this winter.

Amanda Pritchard, who became head of the health service last year after she took over from Sir Simon Stephens, hopes the plans will help to reduce pressures on the NHS this winter.

The community teams will respond to calls, support the patient at the scene and refer them to services that will help in the long term.

It could stop 55,000 elderly patients a year needing to be taken to hospital, reducing extortionate waiting times for ambulances and backlog.

NHS boss Amanda Pritchard (pictured 2021) has said rapid response teams will be sent out to treat elderly people who call for help after a fall at home so they are not left waiting for hours this winter

Unprecedented delays for ambulance over the past months have seen patients wait over 40 hours to be taken to hospital.

Ms Pritchard, 46, said: ‘We’re going to be asking people to really ramp up falls response services for people who have fallen but are not injured.

‘This will divert them into the right pathways, not putting them into a pathway that leads to the back of an ambulance outside A&E.’

The teams will help those who have had a fall but are not seriously injured, reported The Sunday Times.

Ms Pritchard, who became head of the health service last year after she took over from Sir Simon Stephens, hopes the plans will help to reduce pressures on the NHS this winter

Ms Pritchard added that a quarter of less severe 999 calls in January were regarding falls.

The NHS is expected to experience a tough winter. One in eight people in England are now on the waiting list as the queue for routine operations breached seven million for the first time ever, it was revealed on Friday.

This is the highest total since records began in 2007.

Almost 390,000 patients have been forced to endure year-long waits for their treatment, often while in serious pain.

Unprecedented delays for ambulance over the past months have seen patients wait over 40 hours to be taken to hospital (file image)

The NHS chief executive also plans to introduce respiratory hubs to provide same-day help to people with lung conditions.

Each one will create 8,000 available appointments, taking patients away from clogged-up GPs and A&E services.

In addition, new 24/7 control rooms will monitor services and speed up decision-making from above.

But Ms Pritchard said there are ‘still things that are out of our control’ that could continue to affect the NHS, such as covid, the flu and risks of transmission during the football world cup in Qatar.

There are also predictions that soaring inflation could cost the NHS an extra £7billion a year.

She said: ‘We want people to go and enjoy themselves, of course, but part of our responsibilities is to plan around that.

‘When you look at those things you have to say this winter has the potential, particularly off the back of the level of pressure in the system at the moment, to be a very, very, very challenging winter.’

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