Joined-up working: introducing the best teams of the year
BMJ 2012; 344 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e2328 (Published 27 March 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;344:e2328
- Anne Gulland, freelance journalist
- 1London, UK
- annecgulland{at}yahoo.co.uk
Working with different agencies is not always easy, but it is vital for patients whose conditions do not fit into neat treatment silos. The shortlisted candidates for the 2012 Working in Partnership award are testaments to how team working across many different sectors can yield great outcomes.
North Tyneside Falls Prevention Service
The falls prevention service began with the premise that falls are not an inevitable part of ageing. The service screens all patients over the age of 60 at participating general practices and those identified at risk of a fall attend a review where they have a range of tests.
Steve Parry, consultant geriatrician at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, believes the service is unique because it seeks out people at risk of a fall: it saw 2554 patients in its first two years.
“We have seen this astonishing number of people who never darken the doors of specialist services, people who have had falls or blackouts. Older people are stoic—they feel that falls are their lot in life,” he says.
The success has been striking—in 2010-11 rates of fracture of the neck of the femur rose in …
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