Edinburgh

People living in the community

If you are looking to signpost a person living in the community to local information that can help reduce their risk of falls, you can use some of the links in the Edinburgh Falls Prevention Pathway, or direct them to this page: I Live in Edinburgh – Falls Support

Multifactorial Falls Assessment and Rehabilitation at Home

For patients who would benefit from a multifactorial falls assessment at home, a referral can be made to Edinburgh Hub Therapy Services via TRAK using a Request for Service or call Social Care Direct on the clinician-only falls telephone numbers 0131 200 2338 / 4262. Referrals are organised into urgent and non-urgent. A practitioner working within a therapy team will aim to respond to urgent referrals within 24 hours and organise a visit within 48 hours (except on weekends). Please allow for 7-10 working days for non-urgent responses.

The practitioner will work with the patients to carry out a multifactorial assessment of both the person and their home environment for falls risks. They will advise and support with an individualised balance, strength, gait and functional rehabilitation programme. They can also arrange provision of equipment or minor adaptations to improve independence with daily activities and complete onward referrals to further reduce falls risk.

Risk of Admission

If the patient is at imminent risk of hospital admission due to falls within the next 4 hours follow the Urgent Therapy and Social Care pathway or Edinburgh Flow Centre Pathway by checking the referral criteria. Call the Flow Centre 8:30am to 2pm on 0300 013 4000 option 1 and 4, or Social Care Direct on 0131 200 2324 out with these times.

Assistance to Get Up Off the Floor

For patients who are uninjured but stuck on the floor, follow the fallen uninjured person pathway to access urgent support to help them off the floor. This service is provided by the Assistive Technology Enabled Care (ATEC 24) monitoring and response team on behalf of the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership.

Edinburgh Falls Prevention Pathway

If you are working with a person of any adult age living in the community who has had recent falls, worsening or increasing falls, or is at risk of falls, you can support them by following the Edinburgh Falls Prevention Pathway V21 Jan 2024

Movement, mobility and the home

Balance is important to reduce falls risk and for some individuals a walking aid can help. If the individual lives in Edinburgh, they can self-refer for a walking aid assessment.

Alternatively, you can be referred or self-refer for a walking aid assessment at the Disabled Living Centre.

There are often ways to make their home safer. You can use this guide to prevent falls by identifying falls at home.

The individual may benefit from equipment to make the home safer and easier to live in. A health professional can assess and refer for this via Social Care Direct. If they live in Edinburgh, they can order community equipment and minor adaptations yourself.

Alternatively, the individual can request handrails and ramps from Care and Repair.

Joint pain and injuries can reduce mobility and function. Patients can be referred MSK physiotherapy through SCI Gateway and can also self-refer and use musculoskeletal self-help resources. via NHS Lothian and NHS Inform.

Staying active to prevent falls

All adults or older adults are recommended to take at least 150 mins of exercise a week. This includes strength and balance exercises twice a week. For more information, see the Physical Activity Benefits for Adults and Older Adults leaflet. There are lots of health benefits that come from doing this including reducing the risk of falls.

NHS Inform has information on strength and balance exercises suitable for doing at home. The Super 6 Balance Challenge also has a range of six exercises that can help improve strength and balance.

It is important that individuals have the choice of activities they enjoy. Edinburgh Leisure has a wide range of activities to choose form.

Balanced Life is a service provided by Edinburgh Leisure. It is an evidence-based falls prevention programme designed for adults who have had or are at risk of having a fall. Referrals by healthcare practitioners using this guide, alongside this referral portal. Each weekly session includes specific exercises designed to improve balance, endurance, strength and flexibility, alongside educational discussions.

Movement for Memories is delivered by Edinburgh Leisure and is designed to support people with symptoms of dementia or memory loss to be active. Individuals can be referred to Movement for Memories by a healthcare practitioner, or can complete the online self-referral form.

Ageing Well is also delivered by Edinburgh Leisure in partnership with NHS Lothian, offers a range of accessible and enjoyable city-wide activities which support people to become and remain active in later life. All Ageing Well activities are subsidised by voluntary contributions, with some sessions being free and some at a small cost.

Walking Scotland is a Scottish charity that provides health walks in local areas. You can follow this link to find a local health walk by searching with an EH postcode and checking the map for local options that might suit individuals.

If you think an individual may enjoy other outdoor activities, iThrive has a directory of green social prescribing options and NHS Lothian Charity host a number of green health activities on their sites.

The Care About Walking information booklet, activity record sheets and posters can be downloaded.

The strength and balance exercise toolkit , designed for all adults, can be downloaded, and if suitable can be done in a care home, with supervision if needed.

Day Hospital

For patients who would benefit from combined medical, nursing and rehabilitation assessments to reduce their falls risk this can be arranged through referral to the three day hospitals. Any practitioner can make the referral, ensuring the patient’s GP is aware. Patients in the South of Edinburgh can be referred to Liberton Day Hospital by emailing this form Liberton Day Hospital Referral Form, and patients in the North West and North East of Edinburgh can be referred to MOE-WGH-ARC and OPRA Day Hospitals, respectively, by emailing this form Referral Form North Day Hospital highlighting whether transport is required.

Specialist Input to Reduce Falls Risk Factors

If the patient requires specialist input to reduce their identified falls risk factors you can find links to a range of specialist services such as podiatry, dietetics, speech and language therapy, continence services, substance misuse, auditory services, visual services, chronic pain, mental health, community stroke, progressive neurological conditions, occupational therapy or musculoskeletal physiotherapy within Edinburgh on the Edinburgh Falls Prevention Pathway V21 2024 or on RefHelp.

Medication Review

For patients with medication that may be affecting their falls risk a medication review can be provided by their GP or by NHS Lothian Community Pharmacy.

Community Alarms

For patients that might benefit from a community alarm, this allows 24/7 support from the ATEC 24 monitoring and response team. A referral can be made via Social Care Direct.

Community Equipment

For patients who would benefit from assessment for equipment to live independently, more support is available. For minor adaptations such as grabrails, handrails and bannisters, a self-referral can be made via the online form. If an assessment for other community equipment or larger adaptations is indicated, a referral can be made via Social Care Direct Patients can also return items to the Community Equipment Service and get help in the event of equipment breakdown.

Care home residents

If a care home resident has had a recent fall, worsening or increasing falls, or is at risk of falls, referrals to services that can support them can be made by the care home, their GP, or a range of professionals. If you are looking to signpost a care home resident or their next of kin to information about falls, you can direct them to this page: Falls – Care Homes. This page also has information for care home staff and health and social care practitioners and includes a procedure on how to manage falls in care homes.

Resources for ordering

Many individuals prefer to have a paper copy of guides, Up and About and Worried about slips, trips and stumbles, which are available for ordering. They offer a range of advice on reducing the risk of falls, what to do if you falls, and strength and balance exercises.