What if your aged care residents could have the benefits of a hoist without having to know its there?

It's been the point of discussion around many a aged care board room table: we need patient lifting equipment, but we don't want to see the rails on the ceiling and have the hoist always sitting in view.  

The answer could well be in a not-so-new cabinet based lifter called the Integralift, designed by Norwegian engineer Skjalg AAbakken, and now selling in Australian through Ceiling Hoist Solutions.  What problem does this solve?  It looks like cabinetry, it feels and works like cabinetry - but just open the door and suddenly there is a patient lifting motor with sling, spreader bar and sling, ready to lift a patient or resident from the bed to a wheelchair, tub chair or even commode.  Imagine how better your residents or patients will feel when the only time they see a hoist is when they need it!  

And for staff, well, no sore backs, shoulders and general fatigue.  Surely that is worth a lot more than just something!  There's Integralifts being installed into aged care and residential homes all across Australia - why don't you take a look as well.

Ceiling Hoist Solutions - it's all about having the right equipment.

It's one thing to care and nurse the injured or elderly through illness, injury or as a part of long term care, but it's another thing entirely when carers are put at risk of injury to themselves.  

The use of portable hoists in aged care is an absolute must if we are to protect those who work in healthcare.  So often, CHS (Ceiling Hoist Solutions) - a provider of patient lifting equipment such asWaverley Glen fixed hoists, Etac Molift Nomad portable hoists, Astor Bannerman change tables and Ropimex curtain rails and folding walls - encounter with OH&S managers and care staff whose role as carers are compromised as a results of having to use floor hoists on a regular basis.  Now, floor hoists have their use, this is not in dispute.  

What is in dispute is the reasoning behind the decision being made by many healthcare providers to opt for floor hoists over ceiling hoists based solely on the opinion that they are not required. 

Clearly there is a financial factor to all of this, and we must all understand this, however the question remains - how can hospital staff and aged care workers care for the less fortunate when they do not have either the right equipment, or are putting themselves at risk by using equipment that could be considered less than safe.  

We welcome discussions on this topic to help lift the approach to patient lifting standards in modern facilities.