East of England Ambulance Service and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service up for healthcare award for initiative on falls in the home

Two of the emergency services for Hertfordshire and Essex have been short-listed for a national healthcare award for their joint project to help people who have fallen at home.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service are in the running in the Provider Collaboration of the Year category at the HSJ Awards 2024, run by the Health Service Journal, a news service that covers NHS policy and management in England.

They were nominated for their community wellbeing officer (CWO) initiative, launched in November 2023, which is designed to bring health response and fire prevention together.

Falls increase the risk of fire in a home, and when emergency calls come in for non-injury falls, EEAST dispatchers can task CWOs to respond where available, usually meaning the patient gets help more quickly.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on November 21.