Aintree Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has purchased 11 Easy Rider Remote remote control bed/trolley driving devices from Dutch manufacturer RRB Netherlands with special adaptors that enable them to fit onto “around 95%” of the Trust’s “7-8” different types of existing beds and trolleys.
Under a £115,000 contract, reportedly the UK’s biggest such single order to date, it has also refurbished four older driving units using new RRB-supplied components. The Trust began using earlier Easy Rider Classic bed/trolley driving devices (with a 600 kg maximum towing capacity and 200 kg maximum lifting capacity) from RRB in 2001, a move which, combined with initiatives such as hoist installation and tailored staff training has, manual handling advisor Ken Cookson explained, reduced manual handling injuries Trust-wide by 67%. He said “Working with us, RRB has developed and produced steel adaptors which fit onto nearly all the different bed and trolley types we use at Aintree Hospital and can be fitted and removed easily, without tools. The devices drive beds and trolleys up steep gradients. For instance we have two corridors with 1 in 16 and 1 in 12 gradients. Health and Safety Executive pushing and pulling force guidelines can easily be exceeded should ground not be level.” Emphasising that the drivers also provide a smoother patient ride, Ken Cookson pointed out that, while a “traditional” 1967-designed King’s Fund hydraulic bed weighed just 90 kg, today an “average” electric profiling bed can weigh 150 kg, and a trolley 188 kg or more. The Trust’s Europe-wide advertisement for a supplier to provide the new driving devices with adapters to fit several bed/trolley types drew just 4 responses. “Despite some manufacturer claims, it is extremely difficult to get a driving device connectable to every bed and trolley used within a large acute hospital,” added Ken Cookson. “This led to us working with RRB.” The “mother” driving device connects to the bed or trolley base either at front or back, with the remote control unit attached to the top of the the other end where the control panel enables driving smoothly up gradients and controlled descent. Ken Cookson added: “With elimination of the previous manual handling there should be significantly less risk of back and other musculoskeletal injuries. One person can now control trolley motion, leaving the other hands-free to give full attention to the patient.”
