Yellow socks trial to help staff identify patients at risk of falls
Patients that are prone to falling will receive a pair of yellow socks and a yellow blanket when they are treated at UHDB, as part of an innovative trial to reduce the risk of falls.
Think Yellow is an innovative scheme that was first rolled out in East Kent Hospitals University in 2021 by Jayne Flood and was found to significantly reduce the falls rate in their Emergency Departments and Acute Medical Units.
In six weeks the number of falls dropped by 50 per cent and no patients who had been issued a yellow kit fell.
Following the success of that trial, Think Yellow has been implemented at other hospital sites across the country and now the falls team at UHDB are hoping to see some improvement in numbers thanks to the help of the yellow socks and blanket.
Natalie Keightley, Senior Falls Practitioner at the Trust, said the project is an ‘easy, visual way’ to identify patients who are most at risk of falls.
She said: “Falls are a complex issue as there are over 400 individual risk factors that combine together to increase a patient’s risk of falling.
“That means each patient requires an individualised approach to reduce their individual risk factors.
“While some falls are inevitable, it is important that we try to reduce the risk as much as possible.”
This project involves patients who need supervision when mobilising being given a pair of yellow socks, which are easily identifiable and will show staff which patients need support if they are trying to stand or mobilise.
This project also supports the business units with communication around risks when the patient is transferring between the emergency, assessment and short stay areas or attending other areas of the hospitals for scans and investigations.
Natalie added: “We know that falls are the leading cause of death through injury for those aged 75 and over and 60% of those who fall once will fall again in the same year.
“It is a really big issue and we hope that this will have a positive impact to help keep patients safe while they are being cared for in our hospitals.”