EQUIPMENT STORAGE
Bedlift stacking system addresses storage issues
Rachael Pickering, Operations director at Medescon, the exclusive UK and Ireland supplier of Vidir bedlift products – discusses what she describes as a ‘simple but effective solution to solving the age-old problem of storing hospital beds in an environment where there is simply no or very limited floor space’.
Hospital floor space is always at a premium, and this is especially true now, with the considerable pressure the NHS currently faces in its work to address the considerable clinical backlog in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. There is literally zero floor space to store anything in the majority of UK hospitals. So, where do hospital beds get stored? The answer, frequently, is in corridors, shared rooms, and basements; in fact anywhere that will take them, which doesn’t make for good relations with the Trust or hospital’s Health & Safety or Fire officer. Storing beds this way causes several serious issues. The biggest complaint that I hear is that such practices can make it a stressful task for the hospital’s portering team to try to find a ready-to-use hospital bed – usually involving a frantic search over various floors of the hospital. This of course takes time before the correct bed – which needs both to have been sanitised and charged – is found and delivered to the right department, ready for the waiting patient. This is difficult and time-consuming for all concerned.
High-value items subject to damage Hospital beds are high-value items, so why are they not treated as such when it comes
Rachael Pickering says that ‘with literally zero floor space to store anything in the majority of UK hospitals’, hospital beds often end up being stored in corridors, shared rooms, and basements.
to storing them? With little protection, they are especially at risk of being damaged by unnecessary contact against walls, and by other beds when stacked one on top of the other (which also puts porters at huge manual handling risk), or by other equipment making contact with them when it is passing by or is stored next to them. The potential for damage is especially apparent when beds are stored in
corridors with lots of moving traffic. Internal hospital ‘trains’ carrying pedestrians or towing containers with hospital rubbish etc put the beds at risk of accidental impact. Pedestrians may touch or lean on the bed when walking past, which then requires it to be sanitised again. Storing beds in corridors and basements also hinders access to fire exits, and limits the space for passers-by when walking
The Bedlift N. 64 Health Estate Journal March 2023
The Bedlift R.
The Bedlift X.
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