EQUIPMENT STORAGE
past – something which was a huge problem during the COVID pandemic with social distancing in force. Relieving corridors of beds, and keeping fire exits clear, helps to keep everyone safe, and ensures that fire safety standards are met. A porter’s task of finding a clean, maintained, useable bed can also feel like an impossible task unless beds are stored in an organised way.
Most ‘wanted and waited for’ item It may well come as no surprise to readers that hospital beds are the most wanted and waited for hospital item, and alarmingly one the most common causes of stress and injury to NHS staff. As standard, every UK hospital is
required to stockhold beds in quantities in direct ratio to a percentage of the local population. With an ever-increasing population, and surges in seasonal health challenges such as ‘flu, and more recently COVID, it is inevitable that the number of hospital beds required will exceed the storage available. Staff are now often forced to use any free space they can find to store beds, which tends to result in precious beds being stored in corridors and random rooms – anywhere that will take them, at whatever risk to the bed because there is no other choice. This causes a risk to the health and safety of the hospital, staff, and patients. Basic exit routes and fire escapes are compromised, added to which is the risk of manual handling injuries to hospital staff. Without bedlifts, hospital beds take up
valuable floor space in corridors, while creating fire hazards, and hindering staff efficiency. The Vidir vertical bedlift system safely stores beds vertically, safely storing one on top of the other using electricity, not manpower.
Maximising floorspace With more new hospitals being built, there is an ever-increasing interest in how architects are designing in large bed stores, and designing out bed storage
London Glasgow Manchester Birmingham Leeds
0 500 1000 1500 2000250030003500400045005000 0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 £ per square metre
Cost savings: n A hospital bed occupies approximately 2.72 m2
of floor space
n The footprint of the bedlift is approximately 4.2 m2 n New hospital construction cost = £3.4k – £4.9k / m2 n 3 Capacity – floor space savings of 4.0 m2 n 4 Capacity – floor space savings of 6.7 m2 n 5 Capacity – floor space savings of 9.4 m2
/ £13.6 – £19.6k / £22.7 – £32.7k / £32 – £46k
e.g. 8 x three-bed bedlifts could save approximately £109k – £157k of floorspace in addition to the added benefits of:
Figure 1: A general illustration of hospital build costs in the UK, 2022. n Manual handling
n Fast, easy retrieval
problems. Floorspace is of a premium value, so in the interests of being cost- effective, it is essential that it is maximised to get the best value per m2
. So, how can
this problem be solved? Rather than using whatever available hospital floorspace there is, be it suitable or not, storing hospital beds in a vertical stacking system, rather than – as traditionally occurs – side by side, can saves thousands of pounds in hospital floorspace, and porter time, and reduces the risk of injuries to staff, patients, and the general public. The Vidir vertical bed stacker cleverly enables up to five beds to be stored in little over the footprint of one bed; thus a hospital that requires storage for 30 beds would need far less space by using the Vidir Vertical Bedlift Stackers. In fact to store 30 hospital beds it will only require the space of just over six if using the five-bed High Bedlift Stacker, which explains why this vertical system is so popular. Better storage for your facility also means better care for your patients. Using one of our vertically stacking bedlift systems, the hospital will be able to store up to three times the amount of bedlifts, which can save thousands of pounds in floorspace, particularly when constructing a new hospital.
The Bedlift S.
A range of options to meet individual requirements Medescon offers a range of bedlift stacker options to suit individual hospitals’ requirements – ranging from units to accommodate beds three, four, and five-bed high, as well as ones to house standard and bariatric beds. The available models include: n Bedlift R –The R Series (Regular Duty) is designed to accept 80-90% of all hospital beds. With a vertical pitch of 684 mm, and a capacity of 272 kg per position, this unit loads from the front.
n Ready-to-use-beds
n Bedlift X – The X Series (Extra Capacity) is designed to accept the remaining 10- 20% of beds with a larger vertical pitch of 838 mm, and a capacity of 272 kg per position, otherwise known as bariatric beds. This unit also loads from the front.
n Bedlift S – The S Series (Side Load) Bedlift is designed to load using the width of the bed, requiring less floor space for unloading. This is for spaces with a unique profile, and where there are space constraints such as corridors and small rooms.
n Bedlift N – The N Series (Narrow) is designed specifically for narrower profile beds, stretchers, and operating tables,
One of the bedlift stackers in use at Kettering General Hospital.
March 2023 Health Estate Journal 65
Statista Research Department
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