Improving mobility via a redesigned walking frame
Falls are a major cause of injury in older adults, costing the NHS over £2 billion annually. However, traditional walking frames often lack stability during turning and don’t support key movements like sit-to-stand, increasing fall risk.
To address this, the NIHR HRC in Sustainable Innovation collaborated with NRS Healthcare, and the Universities of Exeter and Salford to co-develop Walk Safe® – a CE marked, redesigned walking frame that offers double the stability of standard frames during turning.
The impact:
A study conducted as part of the project showed that Walk Safe® is twice as stable as standard frames when turning, significantly improving user safety. Designed for multiple reuses, Walk Safe® has shown strong safety outcomes with 100% of users completing tasks safely, and nearly all clinicians reporting they would prescribe the device.
As well as reducing environmental impact and waste with its reusable design – if adopted nationally – Walk Safe® could reduce fall-related injuries and pressures on healthcare systems, reducing direct costs to NHS and care costs for local authorities while improving patient safety. This project demonstrates how research-driven innovation can significantly improve outcomes in real-world care.
What we did:
To support and enable the development of Walk Safe®, our HRC:
- Facilitated real-world user testing with older adults and clinicians.
- Provided clinician and researcher access for hands-on evaluation.
- Supported data collection to demonstrate clinical and economic value.
- Helped position the innovation for NHS and care system adoption.
