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Essay on Principles of Health and Social Care

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Bed Safety Rails Policy and Procedures

NHS Swindon is the brand name for the organisation legally known as Swindon Primary Care Trust

Note: This document is electronically controlled. The master copy is maintained by the Clinical
Governance Department. If this document is printed it becomes uncontrolled.

Bed safety rails policy and procedures

Operational

Issue 3

Approved 12/07/2011

Expiry 11/07/2013

Page 1 of 27

Document Control
Purpose

Owner
Author

Applies to
Implementation date
Date of review
Expiry date
Link to Care Quality Commission
(CQC) Essential Standards of
Quality & Safety
Link to NHSLA Risk Standard(s)
Responsibility for implementation

To ensure that bed safety rails are used …show more content…

During recent years the Medicines Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) has received adverse incident reports involving Bed Safety rails that have led to injury and death. The majority of these incidents occurred in community care environments, in particular residential and private nursing homes rather than in hospitals. However, most of these deaths could have been avoided if a thorough risk assessment had been carried out. It must also be remembered that Bed Safety rails are present on treatment trolleys and couches, and would therefore pose the same risks.
Incidents result from:
 Insufficient material strength leading to premature mechanical failure
 Incompatibility or unsuitability of a safety bed rail for the bed type
 Incorrect or omitted risk assessment and consideration of the physical size of the bed occupant
 Bed occupants attempting to climb over the rails
 As a result of the patient/client’s weight compressing the mattress
 Poor design e.g. very large spacing between the rails
 Movement of the bed safety rail away from the side of the divan mattress
 Use of a mattress overlay which reduced the effective height of the device
 Use of an air mattress which was too light to keep the safety rail assembly in position on the divan bed
 Bed Safety rails in poor condition from lack of maintenance
 Inappropriate gaps:
- between the end of the safety rail and the headboard
- between

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