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The Accidental Falls Report: Insights on Emergency Hospital Admissions from Falls and Proactive Prevention

This report and data analysis have been conducted by accessibility and mobility bathroom specialists, Age Care Bathrooms. Please include a reference link if replicating any data or analysis from the report.

A fall that results in a hospital admission can have a significant impact on both the individual and their family.

Unaddressed fall hazards in the home are estimated to cost the NHS in England £435 million annually, according to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. In addition, the Centre for Ageing Better recently reported that more than half a million homes in England pose a significant falls risk to their older occupants and are in urgent need of repair or modification. People’s safety comes first, but the knock-on pressure on A&E departments and waiting times is felt much more widely.

How can data insights help?

At Age Care Bathrooms, we pride ourselves on helping people with accessibility needs stay safe and independent at home. Understanding where the need is greatest is part of that.

To help identify which locations nationally are in need of the most support, we’ve analysed official data from the Department of Health and Social Care on emergency hospital admissions due to falls for those aged 65 and over.

Key findings

  • More than 600 people aged 65 and over are admitted to hospital after a fall in England every day. That totalled 221,600 admissions in 2024/25.
  • The gap between areas is wide: an over-65 in the worst-affected area is 2.7 times more likely to be admitted to hospital after a fall than one in the least-affected area.
  • Plymouth has the lowest rate in England at 1,125 per 100,000, 43% below the national average, having reduced admissions in each of the last three years.
  • Liverpool has the highest rate in England, with six people aged 65 and over admitted after a fall every day, 55% above the national average.
  • Stoke-on-Trent recorded England's largest drop in admissions, down 39.1% in a single year, and the biggest drop of any area over the decade at 52.4%.
  • Thurrock has seen the sharpest decade rise in admissions in England at 87.5%, despite running one of the country's longest free FaME programmes.
  • The South East handles the highest volume of any region, with 113 admissions every day, and 4,215 more than a decade ago, the largest increase in England.
  • Six of England's nine regions now treat more people after a fall than they did in 2014/15. Only the North West, London and the West Midlands treat fewer.

Contents in this report

What is the national picture?

More than 600 people aged 65 and over are admitted to hospital after a fall in England every day, according to the latest data. In 2024/25, there were 221,600 fall-related hospital admissions among people aged 65 and over in England.

However, great progress has been made to reduce the rate of incidents in recent years. The latest annual figures represent a 1.3% reduction compared to the previous year. This builds on the rate of admissions falling by 13.2% since 2019/20, when the issue was at its most prevalent. In real terms, that’s over 13,000 fewer people admitted to hospital after a fall last year than five years earlier – around 36 fewer a day.

Fewer falls per head have not meant fewer people in hospital, however. Over the past decade, the rate of admissions has fallen 11.4%, while the number of people admitted has risen by nearly 10,000.

Significant local differences still remain, whereby the most affected areas remain higher than the decade-old national average. Looking at the range of national area data, the areas with the lowest figures sit nearly three times (2.7 times) lower than those with the highest – what are the lowest areas doing right?

Full data insights: search for your council area below

Which areas have the lowest rate of fall-related hospital admissions?

Plymouth has the lowest rate of hospital admissions due to falls, with a rate of 1,125 per 100,000 people aged 65 and over

Key insights from the area include:

  • Reduced admissions in each of the last three years, most recently by 22.7%.
  • The fall in admissions extends back a decade, with the latest data showing a 44.8% difference compared to 2014/15.
  • Plymouth currently sits 8% lower than the next location, and 43% below the England average.

Plymouth offers a free 24-week Falls Management Exercise (FaME) programme for residents aged 55 and older, to those who ‘are registered with a local GP, have fallen in the past year, or feel unsteady’.

The area is held up as an example of how active prevention through local services can have a real impact. Livewell Plymouth reported there was a 57% reduction in the rate of falls of participants who took part in the programme between July 2024 and June 2025. (BBC)

Which areas have reported the greatest reduction in admissions?

Nationally, the rate of hospital admissions after a fall has fallen by 11.4% compared with a decade ago. In one area, it has dropped by almost 40% in a single year.

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire record the largest improvements

Stoke-on-Trent recorded the largest annual reduction in England, with admissions down 39.1% over the year. It also has the largest reduction of any area over the past decade, at 52.4%.

Staffordshire followed the same trend, with admissions down 20.7% in the latest year, the sixth-largest reduction in England.

The neighbouring areas share an Integrated Care System and offer advice through their ‘Steady On Your Feet’ website, which covers everything from staying active to home safety, including bathroom safety. Stoke-on-Trent also runs a weekly Stay Steady Stoke, which follows the FaME model for falls prevention.

Wirral records the second-largest reduction, and the only one in the North West’s top 10

Wirral reduced fall-related hospital admissions by 23.6% in the latest year, the second-largest fall in England. Two other North West areas featured in the top 20:

  • Westmorland and Furness – down 14.6%, the 16th largest reduction in England
  • Blackpool – down 12.8%, ranking 18th

Tower Hamlets, Havering and Croydon lead London’s reductions

Tower Hamlets recorded the third-largest reduction in England, with admissions down 23.4% over the year. That builds on a 29.8% fall over the decade, leaving the borough below the England average.

  • Havering – down 21.5%, the fifth-largest reduction in England
  • Croydon – down 20.3%, seventh nationally, and down 42.2% over the decade

Three London boroughs therefore sit in the national top 10, but the picture across the capital is mixed. See which areas have seen the largest increases here.

Which areas experience the highest rates of emergency hospital admissions due to falls?

While the overall trend across England shows a reduction in hospital admissions due to falls, some areas continue to see high rates of admissions.

Areas with the highest overall fall-related hospital admissions per population

For areas which see a high prevalence of the issue, we believe it’s important to raise awareness of local fall and mobility support services and the benefits of making home modifications to prevent such falls.

Liverpool has the highest rate of fall-related hospital admissions in England

Six people aged 65 and over are admitted to hospital after a fall in Liverpool every day, the highest rate in England.

At 3,035 admissions per 100,000, the North West city sits 55% above the national average and has 2.7 times the rate of Plymouth, the lowest in England.

Liverpool has made long-term progress, with the rate down 15.5% over the decade, but admissions rose 8.4% in the latest year.

Where can Liverpool residents seek help?

Links to useful services in the area:

Away from Liverpool, the next four areas – Southampton, Salford, Thurrock and North Tyneside – all sit around 52% above the national average, separated by just seven admissions per 100,000.

Southampton ranks second-highest for fall-related hospital admissions in England

Southampton recorded 2,983 admissions per 100,000 people aged 65 and over, equivalent to almost three a day.

Progress has stalled. Admissions fell 5.5% over the decade, in line with the national trend, but the rate is now 0.9% higher than five years ago and 3.8% up on last year.

Where can Southampton residents seek help?

Links to useful services in the area:

Salford ranks third highest for fall-related hospital admissions in England

Salford recorded 2,980 admissions per 100,000 people aged 65 and over, around three a day.

The rate is down 13.1% over the decade, but it rose 12.3% in the latest year, the fourteenth largest annual increase in England, reversing four years of gradual improvement.

Where can Salford residents seek help?

Links to useful services in the area:

Thurrock ranks fourth highest, with the sharpest decade rise in England

Thurrock recorded 2,977 admissions per 100,000 people aged 65 and over.

The rate has risen 87.5% over the past decade, the largest increase of any area in England, though it fell 10% in the latest year. Thurrock runs one of the country’s longest FaME programmes, free to attend and running for 36 weeks.

Where can Thurrock residents seek help?

Links to useful services in the area:

North Tyneside ranks fifth highest for fall-related hospital admissions in England

North Tyneside recorded 2,976 admissions per 100,000 people aged 65 and over, around four a day.

The rate rose 8.4% over the decade but fell 7.5% in the latest year.

Where can North Tyneside residents seek help?

Links to useful services in the area:

Which areas have seen the largest increases?

Blackburn with Darwen recorded the steepest year-on-year rise in England, with fall-related hospital admissions up 26.1%. Swindon followed at 26.0%.

While rises across the latest year are significant, both areas are improving over the longer term. Blackburn with Darwen remains 12% below the England average and is down 33.3% on a decade ago; Swindon sits 12% below average and is down 21.3%.

Admissions rise across the West Midlands over the decade

Wolverhampton recorded the largest five-year increase of any area in England, up 55.9%, and is now 45% above the national average at 2,832 admissions per 100,000 people aged 65 and over.

Walsall has the third-largest decade increase in England at 33.3%, and sits 23% above the national average.

The majority of South Yorkshire sees incidents on the rise

Three of the four areas that make up South Yorkshire have recorded rising fall-related hospital admissions, though over different periods.

Rotherham has the second-largest decade increase in England, up 33.7% compared with 2014/15, although admissions there have fallen 8.6% over the past five years.

Doncaster and Sheffield show the reverse pattern, with both among the ten largest five-year increases in England. Doncaster is up 29.7%, the sixth largest rise nationally, and Sheffield 24.7%, the seventh.

Doncaster also has the highest rate in Yorkshire and the Humber, at 2,633 admissions per 100,000 people aged 65 and over, the twelfth highest in England.

Where can South Yorkshire residents seek help?

Links to useful services in the area:

Nearly three people an hour are admitted after a fall in London

Almost 23,000 people aged 65 and over were admitted to hospital after a fall in London over the past year, the equivalent of nearly three every hour.

Three of the five largest five-year increases in England are London boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea (44.3%), Hillingdon (41.4%) and Ealing (36.3%). Over ten years, Harrow (23.2%) and Brent (21.4%) in north-west London both feature among the ten largest increases nationally.

The picture across the capital is mixed, with 17 boroughs recording a rise over the latest year and 15 a fall.

Where can London residents seek help?

Links to a selection of useful services in the area:

Please note: support services differ across London boroughs. The best way to find relevant help is to search for ‘[your borough] falls prevention services’.

Highlighting pressure points on emergency and hospital services

There were 221,600 fall-related hospital admissions among people aged 65 and over in England in 2024/25.

So far, we’ve looked mainly at rates adjusted for population – admissions per 100,000 people – which show how likely a fall-related admission is in each area. Looking at the count of admissions tells us something different: the actual number of people that hospitals and health services are caring for.

Where demand is growing

The South East handles the highest volume. There were 41,210 admissions there in 2024/25, nearly one in five across England, or 113 every day. That’s 4,215 more than a decade ago, an 11.4% rise and the largest increase anywhere in the country.

Admissions have also risen over ten years in the East of England (+2,635), the South West (+2,105) and the East Midlands (+1,760). Six of England’s nine regions now treat more people after a fall than they did in 2014/15.

Where demand is falling

Three regions have gone the other way over the decade. The North West recorded 30,150 admissions, 5.5% fewer than in 2014/15; London 22,785, down 2.1%; and the West Midlands 22,435, down 0.7%. The North West and London still have among the highest rates in England, so this is falling volume as opposed to reduced risk.

The West Midlands also recorded the greatest recent improvement of any region, with admissions down 5.5% in the latest year.

Every region sits below the 2019/20 national peak. Prevention is shown to be working, though this may be outpaced across England by a growing older population.

What can be done to reduce the likelihood of falls in the home?

Falls shouldn’t be seen as an inevitable part of getting older; most can be prevented. The biggest difference comes from having a home that works for you and your requirements, particularly in the rooms you use daily, like the bathroom.

Our Director and Co-Founder, Sam Davies, says: 

“Most homes in this country were not built with accessibility in mind. That is starting to change, but we still often meet people whose homes have not kept pace with how their needs have changed over the years.

People want to stay in the home that holds their memories, close to familiar neighbours. Very often, adapting a home to how someone actually lives in it is what makes staying possible. That is why planning matters, and the same goes for health and lifestyle. The best time to start is today.

There is good support out there, though the availability of falls-prevention services can vary from area to area. Whether it is an exercise class, falls-prevention advice, or a chat with your GP, even small steps go a long way towards helping you stay confident on your feet.”

Setting up your home to be more accessible

  • Remove what moves or gets in the way, such as loose mats, rugs, or anything you have to step around.
  • Bring everyday things within easy reach, so there is no stretching or bending.
  • Light the routes you use at night, particularly to the bathroom.
  • Choose flooring that stays non-slip when wet, such as anti-slip vinyl rather than tiles.
  • Add support where it is needed, for example, grab rails positioned where they actually help.
  • Design a bathroom that works for you, such as a walk-in shower, walk-in bath or mobility wet room.

If you are looking to improve the accessibility of your home, or you’re helping an older relative go through this process, your local falls-prevention team can advise you. If a safer, easier-to-use bathroom is part of the answer, our team would be glad to help: we offer a free home visit, with no obligation, to look at the room with you and talk through what would make it easier and safer to use. Fill in the form below, or call us when you’re ready on 0800 999 8994. 

Methodology

Data source:

  • Emergency hospital admissions due to falls in people aged 65 and over, published by the Department of Health and Social Care via OHID Fingertips.
  • Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population aged 65 and over, England.
  • Reference periods:
    • “Latest year” = 2024/25, compared with 2023/24.
    • “Five years previous” = 2019/20, the peak year in the series for both rate and count.
    • “A decade previous” = 2014/15

Notes: 

  • Rate and count move independently. Where the rate falls while admissions rise, this reflects growth in the population aged 65 and over. Both measures are reported where they differ materially.
  • The City of London and Isles of Scilly are reported within Hackney and Cornwall respectively.
  • Falls prevention programmes named in the report were identified from publicly available local authority and NHS sources, and are illustrative rather than a complete list

About The Author

Picture of Pete Jenkins

Pete Jenkins

Pete is our Head of Marketing here at Age Care Bathrooms. He’s the one bringing your favourite transformations, before-and-afters, and behind-the-scenes moments to life. From planning our next TV campaign to capturing the perfect installation photo, Pete makes sure everything we share truly reflects who we are, a trusted, family-run team passionate about safer, stylish accessible bathrooms.

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