AI smart lights in care homes were linked to up to 75 per cent fewer hospital visits after falls, according to an NHS evaluation.
The study examined 87 rooms across seven care homes providing residential, nursing, dementia and assisted living care.
Researchers compared six months of baseline data with six months after installing Nobi Smart Lights, AI-enabled ceiling-mounted devices designed to detect falls and alert staff within seconds.
The lights also turn on automatically when residents get out of bed, helping reduce the risk of night-time falls. Some homes reported zero fall-related hospital admissions during the evaluation period, while ambulance call-outs fell by up to 65 per cent.
Staff reported greater confidence when responding to unwitnessed incidents and said they spent less time reconstructing events or completing documentation.
Better visibility also helped staff distinguish genuine falls from controlled descents, where someone lowers themselves to the floor intentionally or slowly, allowing more incidents to be managed safely inside the care home.
The evaluation was carried out by the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board.
“The Nobi light gives me peace of mind because Mum does fall a lot,” said the daughter of a resident at a participating Suffolk care home.
“I felt guilty about her going into a home, but now I know staff are alerted instantly and can be there straight away.”
The work formed part of the Integrated Care Board’s Digitising Social Care Programme, which supports care providers to adopt digital tools.
Implementation was delivered in partnership with Porters Care, one of Nobi’s UK partners, with support from Suffolk County Council and participating care providers.
Using NHS reference costs, the evaluation estimated £89,000 in avoided emergency care costs over six months, equivalent to a projected return on investment of around 196 per cent over three years.
Roeland Pilgrims, chief executive and co-founder of Nobi, said: “This independent NHS evaluation shows how intelligent care technology can deliver measurable improvements for residents, care teams and the wider health system.
“By giving staff timely, reliable insight, we can help reduce avoidable hospital admissions while improving safety, dignity and peace of mind.”
David Knowles, managing director of Porters Care, added: “These findings show the real-world impact of smart technology in care homes.
“By improving how falls are detected and understood, Nobi helps teams make clearer decisions and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, while keeping residents safe.”
Further independent NHS-led evaluations are underway in other regions of the UK.
