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.
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.
