Pavement Flaws Cost NHS £1bn A Year, Says Help The Aged

Falls are costing the NHS nearly £1bn a year, mainly due to older people tripping on damaged or uneven pavements, a charity warned last night.

Help the Aged called on local authorities to improve paving after a survey found 2.5m people over 65 have taken a tumble recently on defective kerbs or flagstones.

A third of those who fell had to be taken to hospital and another third needed to consult a GP. “For the over-75s falls are a leading cause of mortality. We estimate that one person dies every five hours as the result of a fall and it costs the NHS £981m annually,” a spokeswoman said.

The research – based on interviews with a representative sample of more than 1,000 pensioners – found 56% go out of their way to avoid routes that may have faulty or damaged pavements. That amounted to a restriction on movement for 5.5m older people. Nearly 1m said they would lead more active lives if they could go out without fear of tripping.

The charity called on older people and their families to challenge local authorities to pay more attention to the problem. It distributed campaign postcards for older people to send to the town hall, naming hazardous streets where the paving needed repair.

Pamela Holmes, the charity’s healthy ageing manager, said: “Dangerous paving is stopping millions from leading independent and healthy lives. This leads to isolation and a poor quality of life. And, as people become older, falls are literally a matter of life or death as for over-75s falls are a leading cause of mortality.”

The Local Government Association said: “Councils are committed to helping elderly people get safely through their day. But a triple-whammy of central government targets, rising street maintenance costs, and a freeze on government funding is placing huge pressures on council services.

“Expectations and pressures on council street maintenance are increasing, costs are rising, but funding simply isn’t keeping pace. The bottom line is local authority street maintenance budgets need a boost of £200m a year just to maintain services at their current levels and keep up with inflation.”

A spokeswoman said authorities had been running campaigns for many years to help prevent slips, trips and falls.

“By taking simple commonsense measures, such as swapping old slippers for better fitting ones, councils have reduced falls by an estimated 37%, with the potential to save £500m annually for the NHS,” she added.