How Safe are Toileting Slings? Our Top Tips to Minimise Risks of Accidents and Falls

This series of images by LPS Training Ltd demonstrates how people can fall from toileting slings. 

This week an interesting question popped up on our website,

Can you fall from a toileting sling? 

The answer is yes, it’s possible to fall from a patient toileting sling.

According to clinical advisors and senior board members of the National Back Exchange,  ONLY 1 in 4 people, that’s just 25%, are now considered suitable for transporting in a toileting or access sling, you can read our 2 part blogs here. 

Why Is This The Case?

The design of a traditional toileting sling is very specific, for facilitating assisting the people we support who don’t have weight bearing abilities to use a toilet or commode, to receive personal care afterwards and then be redressed with maximum dignity.

This type of personal care is a very sensitive and intimate issue and a good toileting sling should have a sufficiently open design for use without soiling. 

Design is important with any sling, but particularly with a toileting/commode (or hygiene) sling. Some slings have access or a small aperture at the base of the sling but their designs do differ and just because they have an aperture this does not necessarily make a good toileting sling. 

So What Can Go Wrong?

The Health and Safety Executive highlight in their ‘Getting to grips with hoisting people’. 

‘Selection of the wrong type of sling for an individual, or for a specific task can result in inadequate support and increased risk of falling from the sling.

 For example, access/toileting slings give a great degree of access but very little support and their use should therefore be restricted to toileting purposes, where appropriate’. 

With this necessary open design comes safety concerns, as traditional toileting slings offer very little support and residents who do not have good sitting balance or sufficient trunk support are at risk of falling out during hoisting resulting in severe injuries, from broken bones through to fatalities.

Also because they are quick and easy to fit, and also the lack of awareness of care staff about different types of slings and their correct applications, they are being widely misused for general transfers, and in some community settings traditional toileting slings have been removed altogether due to widespread misuse and health and safety concerns.

Transferring a patient from a chair to a commode or toilet  is a very specific type of transfer that requires a specific function sling which should never be used as a multi-purpose transfer sling.

However, the risk of falling can be minimised with proper use and following appropriate safety guidelines.

To reduce the risk of falling from a patient toileting sling, it’s important to always use the equipment correctly and ensure that the sling is properly attached to the hoist. The patient should also be carefully lifted and moved, with a caregiver or healthcare professional supervising the transfer at all times.

Additionally, it is important to ensure that the sling is the right size and type for the patient, and that the patient's weight and mobility are taken into account when using the equipment. Any concerns or questions about the safe use of a patient toileting sling should be discussed with a healthcare professional.

How Do You Select The Correct Toileting Sling And What Should You Be Considering As Part Of Your Selection Process? 

• What type of lift do you want to achieve:

Passive – a passive patient lift does not require the patient to participate in the lifting process. 

Active – an active patient lift requires the patient to participate in the lifting process. 

• Which style of sling attachments are required: 

Is it a sling with loop attachments?

Is it a sling with clip attachments?

• Weight Range:

  By identifying the resident’s weight accurately the size or range of sizes of the sling most suitable can be determined.

Please Note: We always recommend a full and thorough risk assessment is conducted to ascertain the most suitable size of sling based on a patient’s exact shape and range the size or range of sizes most suitable.

• Trunk Control:

Trunk control refers to the ability to control the trunk or torso. Trunk control affects the patient’s ability to hold their body upright or stable when sitting or moving.

•  Head Control:

Head control refers to the patients ability to control their head. Head control will affect the patient’s ability to hold their head steady when sitting or moving.

• Functional Independence Measure or FIM Score:

FIM involves the classification of a person’s mobility according to 7 levels of function, from independence to total assistance. For more information on FIM.

• Amputee:

If the patient to be transferred is an amputee, this needs to be taken into consideration.

• Involuntary Movement:

Is the patient prone to involuntary movement during transfer? Is it mild, moderate or severe?

• Special Conditions:

Does the patient have any special conditions, such as tissue viability, spasms or complex body shape which need to be taken into consideration?

•  Transfer Function – Chair to Commode/Toilet:

Transferring a patient from a chair to a commode or toilet. This is a specific type of transfer that requires a specific function sling which should never be used as a multi-purpose transfer sling.

• Patient Dignity:

Does the sling allow for easy dress or clothing removal and reapplication? The best sling for toileting should allow for clothing removal and reapplication and if there is some difficulty involved, then adaptive clothing should be seriously considered.

• Laundering

  Cross contamination can be a real problem due to the nature and use of a toileting sling and laundering at a bacterial killing temperature is essential…

Here at Hcsuk we are proud to be working in partnership with Joerns Healthcare, the name behind the trusted OXFORD brand of HOISTs and slings to offer you a range of high-quality, best-value integrated solutions.

Our  innovative range of low back and high back toileting slings  offer additional back and head support and are therefore much safer than traditional style toileting slings.

For more information please visit our website at www.hcsuk.co.uk