Northern Health’s groundbreaking Safe Recovery Falls Trial will reach an important milestone next month, with the rollout of the program to Ward 20, marking the final ward to join the innovative falls prevention research initiative.

Funded through the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the trial aims to reduce falls in hospital through a personalised, evidence-based patient education program that empowers patients to play an active role in their recovery and safety.

Led by a multidisciplinary team from Northern Health, the project is exploring new ways to prevent falls, improve patient outcomes and strengthen safety culture across hospital settings.

Previous research has demonstrated that the falls prevention education program can reduce patient falls by up to 40 per cent in hospital environments, providing a strong evidence base for its implementation at Northern Health.

The rollout to Ward 20 follows the successful introduction of the program across three other participating wards and represents the final stage of implementation within the trial.

The trial has also reached an important milestone, with 1,000 patients now having received Safe Recovery falls prevention education since the program commenced at Northern Health. This achievement reflects the significant reach of the initiative and the strong engagement of patients and staff across participating wards.

Uyen Phan, Associate Director, Allied Health, said the expansion of the program is an exciting step forward for both patients and staff. “We have had excellent engagement and strong interest from patients and staff on all three wards and are really pleased to see the expansion on Ward 20. We look forward to seeing the positive result and hope this evidence-based treatment will be embedded as part of standard care.”

For patients admitted to Ward 20, the rollout means access to an individualised falls education program designed to increase understanding of falls risks and support safer recovery during their hospital stay.

In addition to reducing falls, the team hopes the initiative will improve falls awareness among both patients and staff while fostering a stronger culture of safety across participating wards.

Dr Hazel Heng, Allied Health Research Lead, said, “Meaningful change happens when research, clinical expertise, and frontline experience come together. This project provides an opportunity to turn evidence into practical improvements that benefit patients and healthcare teams alike.”

As part of the project, Northern Health has welcomed Stephen Peterson, Project Investigator and Consumer Representative, for a site visit on 27 August.

Stephen has played an important role in ensuring the consumer perspective remains central to the design and delivery of the trial, helping the project team understand what matters most to patients and carers. He said, “As the Consumer Representative on this important project, I bring first-hand experience of falls among the older demographic. Fortunately, not myself, but friends, family members, and other people I regularly come into contact with. It is a very worrying feature of our daily lives, that inevitably has a negative impact on our independence and overall quality of life. Through my involvement, consumers are having a direct involvement in this Safe Recovery Falls trial, working towards reducing the risk of falls.”

The Safe Recovery Falls Trial brings together expertise from Allied Health, Nursing and consumer partners, including Professor Adam Semciw, Dr Hazel Heng, Narelle Frazer, Lauren Trim, Uyen Phan, Rhiannon Cooper and Stephen Peterson.

As the final ward joins the trial, the team looks forward to evaluating the impact of the program and contributing new evidence to support safer hospital care for patients across Australia.