Specialist hospital chairs for the elderly

Specialist hydraulic chairs have been purchased in the Isle of Wight that will help the elderly and those with poor mobility access specialist diagnostic ophthalmic tests. It also looks to prevent mobility issues for doctors and nurses as the chairs will reduce their risk of developing back trouble during such tests.

In such an important building as a hospital, it is vital that restricted mobility doesn’t interfere with care and procedures. Much like stair lifts aid movement within the home, these hydraulic chairs are said to revolutionise movement within the examination room, for both patients and doctors.

“The chairs are really helpful to us”

A total of six specialist hydraulic chairs were bought by the Friends of St Mary’s Hospital for a total of £4,000 and are already proving to be immensely helpful. Health care assistant Oliver Fletcher said in this article, “The chairs are really helpful to us.”

The chairs are currently being used in the hospital’s eye department, where patients who previously found it difficult to get up to the equipment now manage without a struggle. Much in the way electric rise and recliner chairs help the elderly get in and out of their chairs, these specialist chairs for the hospital work via hydraulics and help ‘the elderly, those with poor mobility and some wheelchair users.’

While the chairs are of great help to all patients visiting the eye department, they are also reported to be a real saviour of nurses’ backs. Prior to the use of these chairs, nurses and doctors had to strain their backs in order to assess their patients during specialist diagnostic ophthalmic tests, but now the chairs do all the work for them, bringing the patient to the optimum position for them. This is said to have reduced the chance of nurses suffering back problems and improved the level of comfort for patients, which suggests that these specialist chairs could be introduced in more hospitals to better improve access and mobility.

Image Credit: Contando Estrelas (flickr.com)

This content was written by Emily Bray. Please feel free to visit my Google + profile to read more stories.