The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP) has published its State of the nation report 2022 for Wales. This summary report examines how the care of inpatient falls and fragility fracture has changed since 2020, showing what the audit reveals about the quality of patient care, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding each of the three sources of data included, it found:
National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD)
The number of hip fractures changed very little during the pandemic, so this is an ideal marker of the pandemic’s impact on the care of frail and older people and shows how successive waves of COVID-19 affected outcomes (mobility, return home, length of stay and mortality) in Wales.
National Audit of Inpatient Falls (NAIF)
There were approximately 12,500 inpatient falls in 2021. These led to:
- over 195 hip fractures
- loss of confidence and slower recovery
- distress to families and staff
- litigation against health boards.
