Abstract

Summary We have studied the effect of ward based Quality Circle (QC) teams on the rate of falls in rehabilitation wards for elderly people. Using information gathered by a continual audit of falls. intervention by these teams resulted in a reduction in the mean fall rate from 13.7 to 9.4 falls per 1000 in-patient days, without compromising rehabilitation aims or extending the mean length of in-patient stay. Partitularly large reductions were observed in falls occurring in the first weelc of rehabilitation from 50.1 to 36.2 falls per 1000 first week patient days (p<0.02); falls around meal times were reduced from 8.2 to 5.7 per 1000 patient days (p< 0.05), and-falls associated with faulty fittings and-furniture were reduced from 9.0 to 0.8 per 1000 patient clays (p<0.02). We have shown that QC teams can use time-place-cause information to adopt ward strategies which reduce the rate of falls on rehabilitation wards for elderly people.