Maximising NHS budgets through investing in falls prevention

With increasing service demands and tight budgets, the NHS is continually looking for effective ways to allocate resources, enhance patient care, and reduce unnecessary expenditures. One significant opportunity is to focus on preventing falls and related hospital admissions by identifying where strategic investment can lead to significant cost savings and improved patient outcomes.

At Steady On Your Feet, our falls prevention platform has been making a significant impact—sitting at the heart of effective fall pathways for Local Authorities and NHS Trusts across the UK. With over 3,500 people completing self-assessments and actively engaging in personalised prevention plans, the potential for cost savings is real and substantial.

A report by The Kings Fund found that the estimated system-wide cost of a fall is over £21,000. If just 5% of people who complete a self-assessment on our platform successfully avoid a fall, this could translate to overall savings of close to £3 million. If we extend that success rate to 50%, the figures are even more compelling, with potential savings soaring to nearly £30 million.

The increasing admissions costs due to falls-related injuries—like femur fracture-related admissions—put significant pressure on local healthcare systems, and there are often increasing gaps between specialised falls service demand and capacity.

These numbers highlight the powerful impact of effective preventive strategies, not only in monetary terms but also in enhancing the quality of life for older adults and reducing health inequalities, as highlighted in South Tees Hospital Trust's recent national public health award.    

“Our Steady On Your Feet website is at the heart of our integrated pathway. The website and communication campaign aims to increase confidence in older people by offering helpful advice, guidance, online risk assessments, and many simple, practical tips to help them stay active, independent and safe. This service redesign showed the importance of collaborative working with a wide range of services and organisations to ensure an all-encompassing strategy. Older people now have greater access to falls prevention resources across the area to suit their own needs. This is ensuring the specialist falls team now sees only those with the most complex falls history.”
Kathryn Hodgson, Clinical Lead for Falls and Fracture Liaison Services at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

However, investing in falls prevention is more than just a financial decision; it's a commitment to tackling challenges faced by specialist falls services. Instead developing a proactive, coordinated and region-wide approach to reducing falls in the future.

That said, finances matter, and based on the cost-saving scenarios in our data, the compelling business case for investing in prevention and moving falls activities upstream is difficult to ignore.

Find out more on our website or contact us at info@steadyonyourfeet.org to discuss how Steady On Your Feet can maximise budgets, streamline resources and significantly enhance your falls prevention strategy.

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