Unsupervised elderly patients ‘prone to falls’

ELDERLY patients left to shower unsupervised are particularly prone to slips, trips and falls in the country’s hospitals, according to data supplied to the Irish Patients Association (IPA).

Of 1,784 such falls recorded nationally over a six-year period from January 2004 to December 2008, 16% occurred in geriatric medicine.

Less than 3% (46) related to the failure or malfunction or lack of medical devices and equipment, or to the use of wrong equipment.