Harvest Healthcare

Equipped to care

Marjan Hakami

Coronavirus Update

Here at Harvest Healthcare we are continuing to take all measures to support our customers, whilst also protecting our customers, staff, other stakeholders and suppliers.

We are working safely and in a sustainable fashion which we can continue with for the long term if necessary. We are managing our supply chain, continuing to meet the demand for our products and supplying to all our customers.  With the exception of our Coronavirus measures, we are running business as usual.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact us directly.

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E-training and Product Videos; Covid-19 Safe Support

Here at Harvest, our knowledgeable product and business development teams are working hard to implement new ways of offering support and services to our valued customers through these unprecedented times.

As part of this we have converted our boardroom to facilitate online product training, demonstrations and other product support.  We can now use e-conferencing to provide a wide range of support and services for your teams, tailored to meet your needs.

We have also started to produce more product installation and demonstration videos which will be online and accessible soon.

We understand the multiple challenges you face and strive, as always, to help you solve these challenges and make your life a little easier.

Please get in touch with your sales representative to see how we can help you.

E-training and Product VideosE-training and Product Videos

To access training videos please follow this link

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Bed Rail Regulations: Your Guide

Did you know that there are side rail regulations put in place by the government and checked by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in order to prevent entrapment? These rail regulations have to be adhered to by all care providers, which can be difficult, especially in homes with a range of bed and mattress types.
What do the Regulations Say?
Side Rail Regulations 60601/2/52 state that the height of the top edge of the side rail must be more than 220mm above the non- compressed mattress.
This means that when a mattress is placed on the bed platform the top of the mattress must be at least 220mm from the top of the side rails, as illustrated in the image below:

The regulations also state that the gap between side rails must be smaller than 120mm. Shown in the image below:

How is Compliance Tested?
The distance between the top of the mattress and the top of the side rail is measured by care providers – see below our handy tool to help – and the gap between the side rails is tested by manufacturers using a Cone Tool.

The Cone Tool is 120mm in diameter at its widest and 60mm at its smallest. The 60mm end of this tool is placed between the side rails at the weakest point and 250N of force is applied. If the 120mm part of the cone does not pass through the side rails, then they pass the compliance test. The Cone Test is shown below.

How Can Harvest Healthcare Help?

  • All Harvest Healthcare’s standard beds are side rail compliant.
  • All Harvest Healthcare’s mattresses can be placed on any Harvest Healthcare Woburn bed and be compliant.
  • We offer easy to assemble rail sections.
  • Part of our servicing package includes Bed Inspections where side rails are checked for compliance.
  • We offer simple to use bed rail height measurement tools, shown below, so that you can quickly and easily check if you are compliant. If you would like to be sent copies of these testers, please get in touch.

Our aim is to solve your problems to ensure that you can offer excellent care and remain complaint all at a reduced cost.
If you would like more information on how we can help you then please contact us.

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Plus Sized Pressure Care

In the current climate accessible care for all has never been so important.

In one US study the prevalence of obesity increased from 16.9% to 25.8% among newly admitted nursing home residents in just ten years (Cai, Rahman et al. 2013). Sadly, alongside increased body mass comes reduced mobility, increased difficulty for care workers when repositioning and a higher risk of having some secondary health issues, all risk factors for pressure ulcer development.

In the same study residents with moderate or severe obesity had, on average, 15.0% higher odds of having pressure ulcers as compared with non-obese residents in the same facility.

With these statistics in mind it’s easy to see why our plus sized patients need to be afforded the right care using the right equipment, which can come with challenges for care homes or for care in the community equipment providers.

Private homes and non-purpose-built nursing homes can have infrastructure issues that hinder plus sized care. In an acute care environment rooms for plus sized patients are recommended to be 17ft wide and 13.5ft long, not including space for furnishings (Muir 2009), quite a challenge to replicate in longer term care settings.

Secondly, many care providers simply do not keep in stock the equipment needed for those at the more extreme definitions of bariatric, or certainly do not have this equipment in quantity.

Finally, it can be a challenge to source all the required equipment simply and easily – a frustration when a new resident is arriving at a care home with specific needs, or a private home needs to be fitted out to allow a patient to be discharged from hospital.

At Harvest Healthcare we aim to relive the stress of sourcing and fitting plus sized equipment, leaving you to focus on providing the best quality care and support.  Our plus sized brochure contains our full range, making choosing what you need simple and easy, and our knowledgeable customer services and sales teams can talk you through any tricky situations. Our sister company Prism Medical can also support with ceiling track hoists, an excellent way to make use of smaller spaces.

The Harvest range includes beds, mattresses, hoists and bathroom equipment, all designed to make life easier for residents and for their carers and give everyone access to the love and support they deserve.

Contact us for more information on our plus sized range.

 

Cai, S., M. Rahman and O. Intrator (2013). “Obesity and pressure ulcers among nursing home residents.” Medical care 51(6): 478-486.

Muir, M. (2009) “Space Planning for the Bariatric Patient.” Bariatric Times.

 

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Coronavirus Update

As a key business for the healthcare supply chain we are taking all possible measures to maintain our operations and support our customers, whilst also protecting our customers, staff, other stakeholders and suppliers.
In light of the latest government advice we are:

  • Asking all our colleagues who can to work from home. We will remain open and operational during this time but ask for patience and understanding as we adapt to this new way of working.
  • Continuing to run health check for all our field-based staff regularly. Any staff with the flu-like symptoms will be asked to self-isolate following the government advice.
  • Totally suspending any unnecessary travel, excluding deliveries and engineer visits which will be arranged in partnership with the care home or facility the engineer is visiting.
  • Maintaining regular contact with suppliers to facilitate as much continuity of supply as we can maintain. We are assured by the authorities that there is no health risk from imported goods due to the nature of transmission of the virus.

We are closely monitoring updates regarding the virus and will keep in line with any change in government advice.

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