New beds at Colchester and Ipswich hospitals

30 July 2019, 08:51 | Updated: 30 July 2019, 08:55

Critical care patients at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals can now take part in rehabilitation more easily following the introduction of new state-of-the-art beds.

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs the hospitals, has so far taken delivery of 13 new beds, with a further 15 to follow in phases over the remainder of the year at a total investment of around £300,000.

The state-of-the-art models are fully adjustable and can be used to move patients into a variety of positions to aid their rehabilitation or help them stand up. They also include weighing scales, which will make it much easier for staff to monitor their patient’s weight to determine drug doses or monitor their nutrition.

Roz Yale, critical care matron with ESNEFT, said: "We are so pleased with these beds. They will make a real difference to the rehabilitation we are able to provide for our patients by allowing us to safely move them into a wide variety of different positions.

"They are also fitted with alarms, which will alert staff if a patient tries to get out of bed without help, in turn increasing safety by reducing the risk of them falling."

Duncan Burbery, charge nurse for informatics, has led the project at Ipswich Hospital. He said: "These new beds will improve the experience our patients have while receiving care as well as increasing the range of rehab we are able to do with them. We are really pleased with them and look forward to taking delivery of the remaining beds later in the year."

The new beds are replacing old models which are now 11 years old.