Hi There,
Phil Cotton here, Field Service Engineer for HCSUK
I am often booked out to perform bed transfers, be that from one room to another in the same property, or from one site to another, whether that be from a care home or a private customer.
With this in mind and my own personal experiences over the years, I thought it would be helpful to you to talk about exactly what should be considered to facilitate the bed transfer as smoothly as possible for both the customer and your service provider / maintenance team alike.
The points covered below should ensure that the service user of the bed is not let down by poor planning, which could potentially cause the transfer of the bed not to happen when it is planned for, and this of course could have major implications if co-ordinated to be done on the same day.
Type of bed
Some beds can be disassembled fairly easily into certain sections that can be carried out by a single person, but other profiling beds such as bariatric ones or what are described by our engineers as ‘scissor’ type full framed beds, are not so easily transportable and may require a two man operation to move from one position to another, which in some circumstances could require a bigger vehicle to move a bed from one property to another.
So when booking a bed transfer, especially if it is from one property to another, it is always advisable to give the people undertaking the bed transfer, the bed make and model, ideally with the serial number too. The size of the bed is an important factor, as is accessibility both within the building the bed is being moved from and accessibility into the building the bed is going to be in situ. This will enable your service and maintenance team be fully prepared to perform the move on the day as requested. Affective planning such as this can ensure the correct vehicle is used for the task at hand and sufficient man power is available to perform the transfer successfully and efficiently.
Accessibility
Give the company or person who is doing your bed transfer as much information as possible regarding the bed’s location. Information such as the bed being on the ground floor or if it is on an upper floor, what is the accessibility like to move the bed via the stairs or the physical size of the lift if there is one.
Again, this is really useful information and will help the person who is doing the bed transfer to decide if one or two people will be needed to attend on the day and will also help to avoid any potential damage occurring to the property or the bed parts themselves in transit from one place to another.
Condition of Bed – Before & After
For the protection of both the owner of the bed and the person / company performing the bed transfer, it is highly advisable to photograph and document the overall condition of the bed prior to disassembly and moving, and to do the same once the transfer has been completed as a safeguard for any issues that may arise following the transfer and rebuilding of the bed.
By following these simple steps and guidelines should ensure a seamless transition of the bed on the same day and should allow the service user uninterrupted usage of their bed which will keep everyone involved in the process happy of a job well done!
If you have a profiling bed to transfer and would like us to oversee this for you, or to discuss your care home general servicing needs, why not book a meeting with our Servicing Support Manager Lee here or contact him at servicing@hcsuk.co.uk or call 01773 713713.
Until next time….
Phil
