Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have been sent by Opera Beds to local NHS trusts and ambulance services to find which trusts have seen the biggest spike in fall-related emergency admissions for over-65s in the last three years.
The findings 57 percent of UK hospitals saw an increase in elderly falls last year.
Opera Beds sent the FOI requests to acquire the fall-related data based on responses from 21 NHS trusts and seven ambulance services.
In 2024 alone, there were over 284,280 ambulance callouts and 50,000 hospital admissions for fall-related emergencies among over-65s across the NHS.
Across the UK, ambulance services respond to approximately 700,000 emergency calls for falls among patients aged 65 and over between 2022 and 2024.
Key findings include almost one in six falls at home for people over 65 in the UK are from a bed, and 90 percent of UK NHS trusts have seen an increase in emergency hospital admissions for over-65s since 2022.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust’s fall-related emergency admissions have increased by 50 percent more than the national average between 2022 and 2024.
Over-65s in Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust spend an average of more than two and a half weeks in hospital after a fall, six days more than the national average.
Additionally, over 3.3 million ambulance callouts were made for over-65s in the UK last year.
Birmingham NHS Trust was found to have the most hospital admissions for people aged 65 and over.
The following information reveals which UK NHS trusts have seen the most emergency admissions for people aged 65 and over since 2022: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust with 202,609 hospital admissions for over-65s, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust with 174,821 hospital admissions for over 65s, and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust with 133,184 hospital admissions for over-65s between 2022 and 2024.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust saw 62,688 emergency hospital admissions for over-65s in 2022, 67,034 in 2023, and 72,887 in 2024.
Mid And South Essex NHS Foundation Trust saw 55,767 emergency hospital admissions for over-65s in 2022, 58,685 in 2023, and 60,369 in 2024.
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust saw 42,800 emergency hospital admissions for over-65s in 2022, 43,962 in 2023, and 46,422 in 2024.
The information also revealed emergency hospital admissions for over-65s have skyrocketed by 128 percent at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust since 2022.
When looking at all responses from NHS trusts on emergency admissions for those aged 65 and older, national figures have increased by 13 percent between 2022 and 2024, from 1,217,023 to 1,372,512.
The following rank reveals which NHS trusts have seen the most significant increase since 2022, based on 49 FOI responses.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust saw a 68 percent increase in hospital admissions for over 65s since 2022, and Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust saw a 55 percent increase.
Since 2022, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust has recorded almost double the number of fall-related hospital admissions for over-65s than the next biggest trust, with 26,326 fall-related emergency admissions.
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recorded 14,821, and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust saw 13,294 fall-related emergency admissions for over-65s.
It was also revealed that fall-related emergency admissions have increased by 53 percent for over-65s at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust between 2022 and 2024.
To determine which areas of the home result in the most emergency fall hospital admissions, the figures from 7 FOI responses were compared, which revealed more than half of all home-related falls for over-65s are due to slipping, tripping, and stumbling on the same level.
A research study from Imperial College London and Coventry University revealed that there is a strong association between an older person’s view of how they are ageing and how well they will physically recover after a fall.
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