National Audit of Inpatient Falls Annual Report 2021

The National Audit of Inpatient Falls (NAIF) has published their latest report into the care given to patients who fell while they were in hospital and sustained a hip fracture. Based on data from 1,357 patients in 2020, the report presents information on post-fall management and tracks performance against NICE Quality Standard 86, which includes checking the patient for injury before moving, using safe lifting equipment and prompt medical assessment after the fall. The findings include:

• 71% of patients were checked for injury before being moved (up from 69% in 2019)
• Flat lifting equipment was used for 26% of patients (up from 22% in 2019), and
• 62% of patients were assessed by a medic within 30 minutes (up from 52% in 2019).

The risk factor which was most often assessed was continence, with 74% patients undergoing this component of the MFRA (multi-factorial fall risk assessment). Lying/standing blood pressure was the least often assessed, with 35% getting this assessment. The report makes a number of recommendations, including a call to administer analgesia as soon as a provisional diagnosis of inpatient femoral fracture (IFF) is made, aiming for within 30 minutes of the fall. Read the full report: You can read the report by clicking on the link below. Stay-up-to-date: For notifications of future reports from HQIP, sign up to our mailing list.