Falls Awareness Day GET ON BOARD is the message this year! Buses are a vital transport provision for many older people but when a bus journey ends in a fall, things can change. Interested groups are encouraged to build links with their local bus operators. Older people who have suffered a fall on a bus should report this to the bus company. - 23rd June 2009

UK Vision Strategy Help the Aged report that The UK Vision Strategy England Implementation Plan aims to maximise uptake of eye tests among older people, promote sight loss support and eye care as part of falls prevention programmes, and include sight testing in local falls risk assessments. The Implementation Plan for England is due to be published this month - watch this space! - April 2009

Discharge service The British Red Cross Supported Discharge Scheme aims to assist older people across Bucks to return safely home from A&E or the Medical Assessment Unit in the early evening. They will have the support of a volunteer and coordinator to settle them back at home. The volunteer will make sure the house is warm and safe and that there is food in the house for an evening meal and breakfast in the morning. For patients being discharged home from hospital, the Red Cross is here to help them settle back into their home. “We can visit once or twice a week for up to two weeks. We are based at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Wycombe General Hospital within the Social Services dept. Referrals can come via ward staff, self, Social services, OT, etc. We have a team of volunteers who have passed CRB screening and have undertaken a high standard of training. We offer a free service; here is a list of what we can DO: some essential shopping, collect prescriptions or GP letters, collect pensions or other benefits, assist with preparing meals/snacks, carry out light housework, help fill out forms, just sit and have a chat and a cuppa, help access other services. We are available Mon- Fri 10am - 3pm. Contact: Service Co-ordinator 01296 316626 (messages can be left - we will respond on the next working day) 07738 944610, Service Assistant 07738 944614, E mail: HFHBucks@redcross.org.uk .” - March 2009

Telephone/online hearing check Finding it harder to hear conversation when there's background noise? The RNID are offering a hearing check. They say "Our hearing check is designed to help identify people who have hearing loss and not a full hearing assessment, so we encourage anyone who is concerned about their hearing check result to seek more detailed advice from a GP or audiologist. You can take our hearing check online (http://www.rnid.org.uk/howwehelp/hearing_check/) or call 0844 800 3838" - April 2009

Bucks Telecare project Buckinghamshire PCT is working in partnership with the Red Cross, Bucks County Council and Wycombe District Council on a Falls Project to provide Telecare equipment to people living in their own homes. The project is initially available to a limited number of people living within a 10 mile radius of High Wycombe and is focusing on patients who have a history of falls. Patients are offered a range of equipment to assist them in accessing help in the event of a fall. The equipment includes the following:-Pendant Alarm which is connected to the response centre at Wycombe District Council; Falls Sensor which is worn as a pouch around the waist and detects if a person has had a fall. In the event a of a fall the sensor makes a call to the response centre who will arrange for appropriate assistance; Bed Occupancy Sensor which is placed underneath the bed mattress and makes a call to the response centre if the person has not returned to bed at night within a predetermined period of time; Passive infra red system which detects inactivity and will make a call to the response centre if there has been no movement in a room during the day. The aim of the equipment is for people who have had a fall to get help quickly in order to prevent a long lie. The project is running in the High Wycombe Area for one year and may be expanded across the county if it proves to be successful. - 22 April 2009

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