Falls Prevention

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The Falls Prevention service provides specialist care for patients who are at risk of falling or who have had a fall. The team provides support and care to maximise independence and minimise the risk of falling in the future.

Many people fall and think nothing of it. Sometimes they think that it is just a part of getting older. A third of people over 65 and half of people over 80 fall each year.

Falls can cause serious injuries, which can affect your mobility and your daily activities. It can also lead to fear of falling and loss of confidence. This can have a serious impact on your quality of life.

However, there are things you can do to make falling less likely. Doing something about it sooner rather than later means you may prevent yourself from having that one serious fall, which could have a huge impact on your life.

How to access the service

You can access the Steady On Your Feet website for information and resources to help reduce the risk of falls including a simple online self-assessment and personal action plan.

If additional support is required, you can self-refer to the Falls Prevention service where a member of the team will visit patients in their home to provide specialist care.

Patients referred to the service must:

Be registered to GP in the east Surrey area
Be over 18 years old
Have had one or more episodes of falls within the last 12 months with at least one requiring medical attention due to a fall or report recurrent falls
Have problems with balance or walking difficulties
Be independently mobile (with or without a walking aid)
Medically stable.

Some people with more urgent issues may still need to see their GP or other healthcare professional to get a referral.

If you meet the above criteria, please complete the self-referral form below:

Self-referral form

If you require any support completing the form or if a paper copy is required, please contact the Falls Prevention team and a paper form can be posted to you.

Once the self-referral form has been completed, if you patient is eligible, you will be contacted by a member of the team to confirm your appointment.

Contact details and hours of service

Call: 01737 775474

Email: fchc.falls@nhs.net

Hours of service

Monday to Friday: 8:30am - 4.30pm

Assessment and treatment

Assessment

The team will visit you in your own home, or residential care home, to carry out an assessment that will usually last around one hour. During the assessment we will discuss:

Your falls history
Your general health (past and present)
What medications you are currently taking
What goals you would like to achieve.

We will assess your mobility, balance and muscle strength and consider all the main risk factors associated with falls. We will also carry out a home hazards assessment.

The frequency and number of follow up appointments required will be decided by the team based on your clinical needs.

We may also invite you to come to one of our Falls Awareness sessions.

Treatment

Following the outcome of your assessment, a number of the following steps may be taken. These could include:

Referral to our 'Better Balance' class at Redhill YMCA, which is a 10 week course of balance and strength exercises.
A home exercise programme. This helps to prevent further falls so it is important that you try to follow the programme as instructed. Falls prevention service
Equipment to assist your safe daily living
Support with rebuilding confidence to increase independence.
A home exercise programme. This helps to prevent further falls so it is important that you try to follow the programme as instructed.
Equipment to assist your safe daily living
Support with rebuilding confidence to increase independence.

We work closely with specialist nurses, GPs, hospitals and social services and will refer you on to other organisations to ensure all your health and social care needs are met. We will ask for your consent before making any onward referrals.

Please tell the team if you need to cancel or rearrange your appointment giving as much notice as possible on 01737 775474.

All appointment times are approximate due to the nature of community visits. We do our best to see you within 20 minutes.

Better Balance Class for adults