Northampton General Hospital

Staff were able to demonstrate good knowledge of their patients’ needs and risks. Systems were in place to make referrals for more specialist assessment. Assessments were undertaken and therapy provided on a regular basis where required. Shift changes and handovers included all necessary key information to keep patients safe including oversight of patients at risk of falling. Staff were able to tell us which patients were at a high risk of falls. Staff knew what incidents to report and reported serious incidents clearly and in line with trust policy. There was learning from incidents. The service had developed an action plan in response to a recent serious incident to prevent a similar incident from reoccurring. However, learning from this incident had yet to be fully embedded and applied consistently to patients who required enhanced supervision. Falls performance information was shared with patients, visitors and staff. This enabled leaders to monitor the effectiveness of the processes in place to prevent falls. Staff commented that the ward layout and environment made it challenging to care for patients who were confused or at risk of falling. Staff made efforts to maintain a clutter free environment around the immediate bedside but found this more challenging on the wider ward due to the environmental constraints. Staff completed and updated risk assessments for each patient. All patients underwent a multifactorial falls risk assessment. However, compliance with enhanced observation risk assessments was variable for patients who were at risk of falling and required a more enhanced level of supervision.