Moving and handling injuries cost NHS £400m each year
10:38 - 22/02/2011
Moving and handling injuries cost NHS...
The national charity BackCare has released a new publication which reveals that back injuries among NHS staff cost UK taxpayers over £400 million annually.
Statistics indicate that around 80,000 nurses sustain back injuries as a result of moving and handling activities at work each year. The related staff sicknesses and absences amount to the huge £400 million cost, which is enough to employ 16,000 nurses for a year.
In addition to nurses, 3,600 healthcare workers are forced to retire early as a result of back problems and, across the entire care sector, moving and handling injuries account for over a quarter of all reported staff injuries.
BackCare has now launched a new edition of their textbook, The Handling of People, in an attempt to reduce the rate of such injuries. The textbook is an important reference manual for nurses and other healthcare workers responsible for the safety of patients and fellow staff. Previous editions of the manual, when used in conjunction with practical training, have proved indispensable and become known as the ‘Nurse’s Bible’.
Sean McDougall, BackCare’s acting CEO, said: “Cutbacks in NHS and local authority spending are apparently intended to reduce waste and increase efficiency, yet the biggest single cause of work-related sickness absence in the health and social care sectors is largely preventable through better training and systems of management.”
Further underlining the false economy of cutting back on moving and handling training for healthcare staff, Julian Topping, Head of Workplace Health and Regulation at NHS Employers, warned that compensation claims for manual handling injuries were on the rise and added: “Every NHS employee who retires early because of a back injury costs the NHS at least an extra £60,000, money which could have been saved by effective training.”
First Response Training can provide training in safe moving and handling techniques for all workplace settings. Organisations can choose from a 3-hour Manual Handling (of Objects) training course, a 3-hour Moving and Handling of People course or a 6-hour Moving, Handling and Hoisting course. Patient Hoisting is also offered on its own as a 2-3 hour course and First Response have recently started holding Moving and Handling train the trainer workshops.
The suite of moving and handling training courses were developed by Mike Mulcahy, the former Head of Quality and Curriculum at First Response who now acts as a Curriculum Consultant for the provider. Mike is a Professional Member of BackCare, a certified Manual Handling Trainer and Assessor and has over 30 years experience in the field of health and safety training.
He says: “Back injuries as a result of poor moving and handling techniques are all too common. They can blight lives and cost society millions every year. That is why it is so important that anyone who is going to perform moving and handling tasks is properly trained. Our course content meets the Skills for Care Common Induction Standards, has links to QCF Level 2 and provides the opportunity for skills practice, including assisting to walk or stand and chair and bed work.”
For more information on any of their moving and handling training courses, please call First Response today on freephone 0800 310 2300.
Statistics indicate that around 80,000 nurses sustain back injuries as a result of moving and handling activities at work each year. The related staff sicknesses and absences amount to the huge £400 million cost, which is enough to employ 16,000 nurses for a year.
In addition to nurses, 3,600 healthcare workers are forced to retire early as a result of back problems and, across the entire care sector, moving and handling injuries account for over a quarter of all reported staff injuries.
BackCare has now launched a new edition of their textbook, The Handling of People, in an attempt to reduce the rate of such injuries. The textbook is an important reference manual for nurses and other healthcare workers responsible for the safety of patients and fellow staff. Previous editions of the manual, when used in conjunction with practical training, have proved indispensable and become known as the ‘Nurse’s Bible’.
Sean McDougall, BackCare’s acting CEO, said: “Cutbacks in NHS and local authority spending are apparently intended to reduce waste and increase efficiency, yet the biggest single cause of work-related sickness absence in the health and social care sectors is largely preventable through better training and systems of management.”
Further underlining the false economy of cutting back on moving and handling training for healthcare staff, Julian Topping, Head of Workplace Health and Regulation at NHS Employers, warned that compensation claims for manual handling injuries were on the rise and added: “Every NHS employee who retires early because of a back injury costs the NHS at least an extra £60,000, money which could have been saved by effective training.”
First Response Training can provide training in safe moving and handling techniques for all workplace settings. Organisations can choose from a 3-hour Manual Handling (of Objects) training course, a 3-hour Moving and Handling of People course or a 6-hour Moving, Handling and Hoisting course. Patient Hoisting is also offered on its own as a 2-3 hour course and First Response have recently started holding Moving and Handling train the trainer workshops.
The suite of moving and handling training courses were developed by Mike Mulcahy, the former Head of Quality and Curriculum at First Response who now acts as a Curriculum Consultant for the provider. Mike is a Professional Member of BackCare, a certified Manual Handling Trainer and Assessor and has over 30 years experience in the field of health and safety training.
He says: “Back injuries as a result of poor moving and handling techniques are all too common. They can blight lives and cost society millions every year. That is why it is so important that anyone who is going to perform moving and handling tasks is properly trained. Our course content meets the Skills for Care Common Induction Standards, has links to QCF Level 2 and provides the opportunity for skills practice, including assisting to walk or stand and chair and bed work.”
For more information on any of their moving and handling training courses, please call First Response today on freephone 0800 310 2300.
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