Medstrom bed for NHS Trust

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is replacing around 800 beds and 600 mattresses to improve patient safety and experience as well as help the Trust to operate with greater efficiency.

The new equipment will be provided and maintained by independent provider of bed management services to the NHS, Medstrom Healthcare, with the beds and mattresses looking to benefit patients and staff by helping to reduce instances of preventable harm, the spread of infection, and need for clinicians to physically mobilise patients.

A significant, multi-departmental project, the total bed and mattress replacement was an essential step to future-proof the provision of high-quality patient care.

Tracy Crumbleholme, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Assistant Director of Nursing and Quality, said: “The selection process was a collaborative multi-disciplinary approach, involving both clinical and non-clinical staff.

“We wanted to review proposed equipment from a quality, safety and efficiency perspective to ensure we selected the best product for our specific needs now and in the future.”

The Trust established a specification to differentiate between what was essential and desirable as well as examined vendor propositions against the criteria of safety, quality, patient experience and value for money, Tracy explained.

“With the patient population ageing, we needed beds to support patients at high risk of falls and tissue damage to support our organisation’s strategic aim of reducing patient harm. The MMO 5000+ caters for this need with its ultra-low height setting and side rails.

“Equally, the increase of patients experiencing respiratory complications made the 30° and 45° pre-set backrest angles a very attractive function. The bed’s ability to eliminate heel travel and promote safe, early and independent mobilisation also ticked many of our boxes.

“Finally, the pressure redistribution qualities of the AeroSpacer mattress supported our goal of minimising preventable patient harm due to tissue damage.”

Tracy also confirmed the Trust’s unanimous decision is choosing Medstrom as the bed and mattress provider.

The deal to bring in the new equipment is the first action of the newly formed Lancashire Procurement Cluster (LPC), created to boost the buying power of the three NHS Trusts that will now utilise its services.

It followed a full market review driven by a stringent list of benefit criteria, which culminated in the selection of products exclusively supplied by Medstrom.

Keith Dickinson, the Trust’s Chief Financial Officer, commented: “The financial package put together to make this possible was truly innovative and required real flexibility on both sides.

“The work of the LPC, NHS Supply Chain, BFW Management Ltd. (Atlas) our wholly owned subsidiary company, along with the Medstrom team and our own people has led to a situation where we can both improve quality and lower costs.”

Commenting on the procurement drivers and ongoing contract, Atlas’s Head of Medical Engineering, Darren Wrigley, said: “The incumbent bed frames had reached the end of their life cycle and were no longer supported by the manufacturer.

“The Trust needed a solution that would meet the emerging needs of the patient population – beds that are modern, reliable, and add value to the Trust’s preventable harm agenda.”

Darren added that the partnership between Atlas and Medstrom allows better replacement and repair through preventative maintenance schedules, quick decontamination, on-site engineers and data-driven reporting.

Medstrom’s Sales and Marketing Director, Rachel Apsey, said: “The beds and mattresses we are providing are far superior to standard medical beds and mattresses.

“They have a proven ability to champion better comfort levels for patients, promote early, independent mobilisation, support enhanced infection control and reduce the occurrence of falls and pressure ulcers.

“The beds also provide clinicians with simple and standardised operating functionality and, in most cases, remove the need for manual hoisting and positioning of patients; something that is not only undignified and uncomfortable for patients but both resource intensive and physically demanding for ward staff.”

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