Falls and injuries from falls are significant health concerns in Canada and critical issues in healthcare safety.1
- Falls account for up to 40% of inpatient incidents.
- 40 to 60% of residents in long-term care facilities fall at least once a year.2
Falls can result in longer lengths of stay, increased health care cost and staff workload, and staff and family distress. Approximately 50% of patients sustaining an in-hospital hip fracture die within one year of the fracture.3 Direct health care costs for falls in Canada are estimated at $2 billion annually.4
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute has a variety of tools to help healthcare providers deliver safer care and support members of the public to partner with their providers to create safer care.
If something in environment looks unsafe, identify it and work with your team to resolve it.
1 Accreditation Canada, Canadian Institute of Health Information, & Canadian Patient Safety Institute. (2014). Preventing Falls: From Evidence to Improvement in Canadian Health Care. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Institute for Health Information.
https://www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca/en/toolsResources/Documents/Interventions/Reducing%20Falls%20and%20Injury%20from%20Falls/FallsJointReport_2014_EN.pdf
2 Feldman, F., Flintoft, V., & Freund-Heritage, R. (2015, February 26). April 2015 is Falls Quality Audit Month: What you Need to Know to Participate. Canadian Patient Safety Institute & Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.
3 Feldman, F., Flintoft, V., & Freund-Heritage, R. (2015, February 26). April 2015 is Falls Quality Audit Month: What you Need to Know to Participate. Canadian Patient Safety Institute & Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.
