New state-of-the-art hospital beds for NNUH

Staff at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital are gearing up to exchange new for old with the arrival next month of more than 800 brand new, state-of-the art electrically-powered beds.

The next generation of beds from manufacturer Hill Rom starts arriving on the wards at NNUH from June 15 and will take place over three weeks. The new AvantGuard beds are not costing the NHS Trust anything as the contract for the previous generation of beds included conversion to the new high-tech beds.

The hospital will be getting 817 of the AvantGuard 1200 beds to replace the current Evolution 156 model. Nursing, portering and health and safety staff at NNUH have been helping Hill Rom develop the new bed and have tested the AvantGuard prototypes at the hospital.

Advantages of the new beds include:

• The beds can be lowered to 40 cm from the floor for easy access
• The beds have “filled in” safety side rails
• Easy to understand symbols on large controls for staff and patients
• The beds are easier to clean

NNUH clinical products manager Maureen Reeve said: “We've helped develop this new generation of hospital bed and we are looking forward to having them. It's a huge job logistically but one that we've done before and we will be making sure there is as little disruption to patients and staff as possible.”

Media contact: Andrew Stronach or Hayley Gerrard on 01603 287200