Motorised assist system to help caregivers move bariatric care patients
A new motorised assist system designed to help caregivers move bariatric patients more easily has been launched.
Healthcare equipment provider Innova Care Concepts has launched VersaDrive, a unique motorised assist system to assist its Interlude 500 ultra-low bariatric care bed.
Integrated at the footboard of the bed, the VersaDrive is an advanced motorised wheel that uses sensors to detect the bed’s intended direction of movement. Using intuitive automation, the VersaDrive automatically adjusts the bed in the right direction to reduce strain and enable professionals to be in constant visual contact with the patient.
This evolution adds further functionality to the Interlude 500, a bariatric care bed with a safe working load of 500kg while remaining just 21 centimetres from the ground, enhancing fall-prevention protection.
Innova Care Concepts Managing Director Tom Hulbert said: “Bariatric care is a space which requires constant evolution not only to meet the specific needs of patients but the medical professionals who care for them in clinical environments.
“We recognise the crucial need for flexibility when moving patients, often in ward environments with limited space. The VersaDrive technology we are adding to the Interlude 500 enables a far greater freedom of movement and increases the ability to take swift, unchallenged action in the event a patient requires an urgent intervention.
“This will be particularly useful to nurses and other care professionals who are constantly time-poor and often need to make fast, effective decisions to promote patient wellbeing.”
Beyond its weight-bearing and low patient positioning attributes, the Interlude 500 bed offers a range of unique features designed to assist and support care professionals better manage the needs of patients.
Features include the ability to rapidly enter and exit the bed itself, a bed exit detection system, expandability to accommodate different sizes of mattress, and, importantly in the post-COVID environment, it is constructed using a simple-to-clean antibacterial steel structure to aid infection prevention.
Manufactured by Canadian technology company Rotec International and distributed as the Interlude 500 by Innova Care Concepts, the bariatric bed was originally launched in the UK in 2021.
Speaking about the launch of the VersaDrive, President and CEO of Rotec International Miguel Valero commented: “It is a pleasure to work with professionals like Innova Care Concepts in the UK. We find their dynamism and competencies important and are confident our bed has a great future in this market.”
Innova Care Concepts has helped to enable more families visiting RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, thanks to the installation of a modular Changing Places toilet.