WORK is ongoing to reduce the number of falls at Salisbury District Hospital after patients have been left with serious head injuries and broken bones.

In the three month period from October to December, there were ten falls resulting in harm, two less than the previous quarter but three more than the period between April and June.

One of the falls resulted in ‘catastrophic harm’ when a patient suffered a head injury and four resulted in ‘major harm’ with three of the patients requiring surgery for fractured hips or, in one case, a broken thigh bone.

The remaining five falls resulted in ‘moderate harm’. They included a fractured pelvis and a broken shin bone.

Speaking at a Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust board meeting earlier this month, medical director Lorna Wilkinson said: “We had three falls in December resulting in major harm.

“As the board knows we have discussed falls in previous months and it has been an area that we have been concerned about. In January, that was down to two falls resulting in fracture.

“The work goes on in this sphere – SWARMs [where staff gather as soon as possible after the incident to determine its cause and how it can be corrected] are up and running.

“We are also looking at the ‘share and learn’ and how we can be more proactive and on time in real time about the learning and the prevention of future falls.”

She added: “The quarter three data for the aggregated review of these incidents has just been pulled together and it’s interesting because it turns quarter two on its head.

“In quarter two, the pattern was night time falls and in quarter three, it’s daytime falls.

“We see different things come out quarter by quarter, that’s why it’s important to keep doing that.”