Treatment for elderly fall injuries costs €45m

THE cost to the health service of elderly people in Co Cork suffering injuries from falls, is estimated at €45 million a year.

The disclosure was made yesterday in a report, described as the first of its type to be published in this country.

Primarily focussed on statistics gained from parts of Co Cork, with a population of 350,000, the report took 18 months to complete.

However, the report did not include the north and west Cork areas.

In the survey catchment area, a total of €31 million per year was spent treating fall victims.

And based on the report, experts estimate an additional €14m was spent in north and west Cork on similar treatments for elderly victims.

The report concluded that 13,500 people over the age of 65, living in the report’s catchment area, will suffer at least one fall each year.

Of those, more than 1,000 will sustain fractures as a result.

The study, which was launched yesterday at Mercy University Hospital (MUH), showed that 21,500 bed days were being used each year in acute hospitals in the region to treat fall victims.

Effectively, it means that 60 beds are constantly in use in acute hospitals in Cork to treat such patients.

Health experts said that approximately 500 people were admitted to hospitals in the catchment area each year with hip fractures.

Typically hospital treatment could cost in excess of €14,500, and that did not take account of substantial costs in aftercare.

Statistics gleaned from 2007 showed the ambulance service in the study area received 2,219 calls to deal with victims of falls.

A comprehensive review of emergency departments in Cork over a two-week study period showed 1,754 patients being treated, of which 263, or 15%, were there as a result of a fall.

Even though more younger people attended emergency departments following a fall, it was people aged over 65 who were most likely to have suffered a fracture and were more likely to require admission.

Health service officials are trying to save the huge amount of money spent on such victims by looking at ways to minimise falls, especially amongst the elderly.

Mercy University Hospital chief executive, Pat Madden, said the report was a huge piece of research which quantified for the first time the economic impacts of falls and fractures suffered by the elderly population.

“While our focus is on the appropriate medical treatment of elderly people for whom falls and fractures can be life changing, we nevertheless have to do everything in our power to reduce their incidence and achieve better health and financial savings,” Mr Madden said.

The report made 20 recommendations which could be used to reduce the number of falls in homes, hospitals, day care facilities and nursing homes.

One of the recommendations is that all people over 65 should be asked every year if they have fallen and screening should be carried out to identify those most at risk.