FOUR residential care homes in Somerset will be fitted with smart lighting systems as part of an innovative trial to help reduce falls.

Somerset Council and NHS Somerset ICB have been awarded funding from NHS England to install the technology in bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms over the next three years via delivery partners Porters Care Ltd.

The smart light, known as Nobi, will alert carers to a fall immediately, ensuring help arrives within minutes. The system also allows staff to review events leading to falls, helping prevent future occurrences.

Every year, more than 70,000 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will fall and sustain a hip fracture. This leads to the occupation of one in 30 hospital beds with a cost of an estimated £2-billion to care for this type of injury.

In the last reported quarter, data from 29 residential settings rated as ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission reported 310 falls. That is approximately 45 per cent of residents within those settings.

The goal of this trial is to reduce the frequency of falls and the severity of falls when they do occur, improving residents’ quality of life and in turn reducing strain on health and social care services.

The residential care homes involved in this trial were selected for a variety of reasons (such as the strength of their Wi-Fi signal), and had to fulfil certain criteria to qualify for the installation, including what work they were already doing that enabled people to live well within their home setting and reduce their risk of falls, and what difference they hoped to achieve by taking part in the programme.

The four homes will be a part of an ongoing evaluation process, which includes an external partner from Oxford University. This will explore the potential for further use of technology in the health and social care sectors, including options to support people in their own homes.

Councillor Sarah Wakefield, lead member for adults services, housing and homelessness at Somerset Council, said: “I see a lot of potential in this trial to significantly improve the quality of life for our residents whilst also reducing the strain on our health and social care services.

“Falls can be absolutely devastating to people in their older age, so it is essential we do everything we can to prevent them, and when that fails, to catch them as quickly as possible when they do occur.

“The investment in this technology in Somerset is an exciting step for health and social care, and I am looking forward to seeing the results of the evaluation by Oxford University.”

Richard Greaves, associate director for GP IT at NHS Somerset, said: “NHS Somerset are proud to work in partnership with Somerset Council and a number of residential homes to explore the capability of falls detection technology and to improve the safety for residents in these homes.

“The outcomes and findings of this trial will help to shape and determine future investment in this type of technology."