20,800 hospital admissions due to bed falls

20,800 hospital admissions in England over a 12 month period were for people recorded as having a fall involving a bed, provisional figures from The NHS Information Centre show.

Between March 2010 and February 2011 provisionally there were also 12,000 admissions for people who had falls involving chairs.

The figures are part of a special topic on falls, presented as part of the monthly provisional Hospital Episode Statistics publication. Provisional figures for the same time period also show that falls accounted for 459,300 admissions in total; nearly 18,700 more than the previous 12 month period. As a percentage of all admissions, admissions for falls were highest in the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority and the greatest percentage of hospital admissions because of a fall was amongst women aged over 80.

The NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: "Our figures show a rise in the number of hospital admissions for falls; from those who fall out of bed to people taking a tumble out of a tree. Whilst falls are common and often minor, today's report highlights the number of hospital admissions due to injuries from falls particularly among women over 80, who represent nearly a third of all such admissions.”

Headline tables are available HERE