Completed Projects
Increasing Preventative Falls Referrals in a Community Learning Disability Service
We caught up with Lucy Charles, Occupational Therapist in the Camden Integrated Learning Disability Service; following her recent achievement in completing and submitting a QI poster to the International BMJ Quality & Safety Conference in May.
Lucy shares her inspiration, challenges and coproduction contributions in relation to her project along with her key takeaway from the BMJ Conference.
Lucy shares her inspiration, challenges and coproduction contributions in relation to her project along with her key takeaway from the BMJ Conference.
| What inspired this QI project in the first place? |
An audit of the CLDS falls pathway revealed there was a high rate of people on the pathway being referred following a fall event as opposed to being referred for falls prevention. We already knew that falls represent a significant risk for people with learning disabilities throughout their lifetime and the impact is long term. Therefore, the quality improvement project aimed to increase the percentage of preventative referrals to implement proactive approaches to falls management. |
| What was the biggest challenge your team faced, and how did you overcome it? |
| Initially we found that sustaining change was difficult and there was limited impact on showing improvement quickly. There was a general lack of awareness and understanding among referrers such as supported living providers, about the fall’s pathway or the QI project. To address this, we worked closely with our QI advisor, generated new change ideas which focussed on altering the language used in the falls training package. We conducted repeated engagement sessions with providers to enhance awareness and generate a sense of ownership. |
| How did service users and/or staff contribute to the improvement process? |
| We created regular staff team meetings to generate an ongoing feedback loop of progress. This encouraged engagement in the project and helped the team to focus on small targeted achievable actions. We conducted pilot testing of our change ideas with support workers and their managers allowing them to provide direct feedback on usability and effectiveness. Open lines of communication were used throughout the project, implementing any changes or ideas presented to us by providers. |
| How did it feel about submitting your project to an international conference in Utrecht? |
| Submitting my project felt like a big step for me professionally. I was excited about the opportunity to share our work that aimed to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities, particularly as this is a client population that is often underrepresented in healthcare improvement discussions. Submitting the project helped me to reflect on how far the project had come along since its inception and pushed me into thinking about how I will communicate its impact clearly and concisely. |
| What’s one key takeaway you brought back from the BMJ Conference? |
| A key takeaway was the importance of involving people with lived experiences at all stages of the QI project. Many of the presentations I saw at the conference highlighted the universal importance of co production, client centred practice and addressed themes of patient safety throughout. The conference was an affirming experience that helped me realise that our project was relevant and valuable, both locally and internationally. |
| How are you planning to build on this work or share your learning more widely across NLFT? |
| The project team are planning on scaling up the project to incorporate a wider portion of the LD population. This will include capturing insights into people over 50, at risk of falls who are not living in a supported living setting (on their own or with family). We plan to work more closely with GPs to generate awareness of falls prevention and in particular falls screening opportunities as part of routine health checks. In addition, we are planning on piloting a new falls screening tool adapted in line with current falls NICE guidelines to make it more prevention focussed. |