Should your profiling beds be serviced?

As a service and maintenance provider to care establishments for 30 years, we often get asked 'do we really need to service our beds?'. In the following article we seek to answer this question, including relevant legislation and H&S best practice.

• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)

• The Medical Devices Regulations 2002

Both regulations state that equipment provided for use at work must be "safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and inspected regularly to ensure it does not subsequently deteriorate...". Most manufacturers of profiling beds recommend they should be serviced annually.

For the safety of both residents and staff, you should consider regular servicing of profiling beds:

• Reduced risk of entrapment

• Reduced risk of collapse

• Reduced risk of bed becoming stuck in awkward positions, which may cause discomfort or pose a danger to residents

• Bed Rails - one of the most common causes of damages/faults on profiling beds, and common cause of entrapment which can result in injury if not correctly fitted or maintained

• The MHRA states "adverse incident investigations have revealed that some incidents with bed rails have been caused by inadequate maintenance. Bed rails should be included in planned preventative maintenance schemes."

• Such incidents have in some cases led to significant injury and even death

There can be financial savings through proactively servicing profiling beds including reducing the need for emergency call-outs, increasing equipment uptime, and increasing the lifespan of your profiling beds meaning you replace them less regularly.

Spearhead Engineers have serviced profiling beds for many years and will identify faults and weak points on equipment that are often unnoticeable to an untrained eye.

• This includes inspection of welds, mechanical and electrical parts such as actuators, control boxes and PCB's

• Knowledge of legislation and recommendations

• Spearhead Engineers have the correct tools and materials to ensure equipment is correctly serviced and maintained

• Identify points that are likely to fail soon, before they do fail, such as a cracked or weakened weld

Spearhead Engineers often come across beds made up of numerous parts from different manufacturers, none of which are designed to work together. This can potentially cause damage, increase the number of breakdowns and risk of injury.

To discuss your profiling bed servicing options, or to add profiling beds to your existing Service and Maintenance Agreement, contact Spearhead Service on 0345 180 1800 > Option 2 or email service@spearheadhealthcare.com.