Standard 10: Preventing Falls and Harm from Falls

The impact of falls on individuals and the community is far reaching. The social impact of reduced independence through fear, the potential for loss of independence and the increased burden on families can be significant.
NSQHS Standard 10: Preventing Falls and Harm from Falls addresses the prevalence of falls within health services and aims to reduce the incidence of patients’ falls and minimise harm from falls when they occur.
NSQHS Standard 10 requires health service organisations to establish and maintain systems for prevention of falls and having multifactorial falls prevention strategies in place.
Feedback received from health services implementing the NSQHS Standards indicated that some found the actions required by NSQHS Standard 10 initially challenging. However, implementation has led to improved standardised processes and an opportunity for knowledge-sharing within health services and with other health departments.
Kate Smith, a manager in the Patient Safety Unit, Health Systems Innovation Branch with the Queensland Department of Health, provides the following feedback on the how the NSQHS Standards complemented the work being performed within Queensland Health and the implementation and accreditation process.
“The NSQHS Standards were a timely re-enforcement of the work of Queensland Health’s state-wide Falls Injury Prevention Collaborative and Local Falls Injury Prevention Working groups which had been striving for a consistent, standardised approach to falls prevention. Queensland Health has produced excellent resources which support the implementation of the NSQHS Standards and, overall, the feedback has been positive. The most challenging aspects of the NSQHS Standards and national accreditation are system change management processes, capturing evidence and monitoring documentation of interventions and action plans”.
Lorraine Lovitt, is a leader with the NSW Falls Prevention Program at the Clinical Excellence Commission, Lorraine shares her experience working with health services to implement NSQHS Standard 10:
“Initially, implementing the actions required by NSQHS Standard 10 was challenging. There was a lot to be addressed and the implementation timeframe was short, especially for those facing accreditation early on.
However, the experience has been very positive. NSQHS Standard 10 has driven the requirement for improved systems and standardisation relating to falls. It requires prevention strategies to be put in place and as a result we have developed a series of resources and risk screening assessment tools to reduce falls for all ages and for use across all hospital departments.
We have been able to develop information and share this with health services, reducing the need for smaller facilities to do this on their own. This is especially helpful for those facilities who don’t have the manpower to develop this information on their own.
NSQHS Standard 10 has improved understanding the risks associated with falls around health services. There is more work to do but it has given us the impetus for putting good quality and safety measures in place”.
A range to resources to help health services to implement the NSQHS Standards and provide evidence that each standard is being met are available from the Commission’s website.
 www.safetyandquality.gov.au 
For more details contact the Accreditation Advice Centre on 1800 304 056 or email accreditation@safetyandquality.gov.au.