COMMENT COVER STORY Advertising feature


Vertical bed storage solution making its mark on UK hospitals


Medescon is the exclusive UK distributor for Vidir Inc., a Canadian manufacturer and global supplier of automated storage solutions which help hospitals throughout Europe manage their bed storage issues. The automated bedlift system enables three, four, or five hospital beds to be stored vertically, one on top of the other, in the footprint of a single bed. Overall storage is reduced, recovering up to 80 per cent of floor space. Hospital maintenance departments’ capacity, organisation, and workflow are increased, removing the need for beds to be stored, typically, in any available space, such as corridors and public areas.


With options of side and end entry, the system can store standard, bariatric, or ICU beds, neonatal cots, stretchers, and wheelchairs. Rachael Pickering, Head of Operations, said: “Using this method of storage reduces downtime and increases the availability of beds for patients at any given time. By removing unused beds from corridors and public areas, hospitals will be in a better position to meet required fire, safety, and COVID-related social distancing standards. Secure, vertical bed storage provides essential protection from damage caused by walls, doors, and other equipment, ensuring that expensive ICU beds, loaded with sensitive electronics, are properly maintained and securely stored, which in turn helps extend the longevity of valuable assets, and in the long run improves return on investment.” The system works by loading the first bed and raising it up, which in turn opens up the space underneath for the next bed. Beds are removed


IHEEM


February 2022 Volume 76 Number 2 www.iheem.org.uk


JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF HEALTHCARE ENGINEERING AND ESTATE MANAGEMENT


NGINEERING


Risk assessor competence and knowledge often lacking


Last year – a busy and successful one for IHEEM despite the pressures posed by the continuing pandemic – one of the Institute’s key initiatives was to strengthen the Terms of Reference for its Technical Platforms and Authorising Engineer Boards of Registration. Indeed IHEEM has always put considerable store on the competence, expertise, and knowledge of those providing such specialist services.


A safe, hygienic, and compliant water supply


Water system risk assessments questioned


Keeping ventilation plant running optimally


Improving hospitals’ resilience in Japan


www.healthestatejournal.com x1 FC HEJfeb22.indd 3 21/01/2022 17:28


by reversing the procedure. The entire operation can easily be accomplished by a single individual, eliminating the risk of manual handling injuries, simply by pushing and holding the ‘raise’ and ‘lower’ buttons.


The beds are kept clean, safe, and ready for use, while simultaneously ensuring that hospital corridors are kept free of obstructions, which helps Fire and Estates Officers maintain health and safety standards.


Medescon provides design, installation, and maintenance services. For further information, or to arrange a consultation, please contact sales@medescon.com


Medescon Limited Leicester.


Tel: +44 (0)116 4780 007 www.medescon.com


is clearly key to any hospital’s smooth operation, and is an area where healthcare estates teams need to be confident that those responsible have the required competence, skills, and expertise. In a thought-provoking article (ages 37-42) on the current standard of Legionella risk assessments (LRAs), however, IHEEM-registered AE (Water), Steve Mount, says some members of IHEEM’s Water Technical Platform, and AEs (Water), are concerned over ‘the suitability and quality’ of many of the LRAs they observe. One assessor reportedly told an AE their only relevant qualification was having completed a two-day course five years previously. Steve Mount rightly questions whether this is really sufficient to undertake such an important task in a large and complex hospital – particularly given that LRAs are an important legal document, especially in healthcare, and should form the basis of the organisation’s Legionella management regime. Tis issue is also the first of 2022’s four IFHE-


‘branded’ editions of HEJ, and, alongside an interesting article from Japan (pages 25-28) on hospital engineers’ role there in mitigating the impact of natural disasters, it includes a look, by the Group’s Treasurer, David Whiteley, at the history and activities of the IFHE’s EU Group. Te IFHE News section looks forward to the 27th IFHE Congress in Toronto this September, and there is a call for synopses for the 2023 IFHE Digest – a valuable vehicle for sharing the knowledge and experience of professionals working in this fast-moving sector worldwide. I report on IHEEM’s 2021 ‘virtual’ AGM just before Christmas, which saw President, Paul Fenton, look back on 2021, and CEO, Pete Sellars, highlight some of IHEEM’s plans and aspirations in 2022 – a year he said he hoped would be ‘easier for all’.


Jonathan Baillie,


Editor jonathanbaillie@ stepcomms.com


February 2022 Health Estate Journal 5


health estate journal tate jou


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