Dignity in Bathing, Safety for Carers

If you are a carer for an individual requiring mobility aids, showering and bathing can be one of the most challenging times of the day.  Many traditional bathrooms in homes, hostels and even hospitals and medical centres don't have the space to manoeuvre easily, nor the right products to protect your own health and safety whilst ensuring the dignity of the person in care.

You need some intelligent design to make bathroom spaces user-friendly and ensure hygiene is upheld.

CHS Healthcare stocks a variety of products to assist you to bathe those requiring care safely and in comfort.

The Lambda 175 Shower Trolley is a leader in its class, allowing for more secure and pleasurable bathing.  Adjustable side and end rails not only improve the safety of this item, but also allow for the person in care to experience some immersion in the water.  Additional safety features include central braking and dimensional locking.  This item has a safe working load of 175kg.

Ceiling Hoist Solutions also stocks a variety of changing tables, including the popular and height adjustable Nivano Range, which is the choice of the national Changing Places initiative.  If your changing table needs to support more weight, consider the CT190 Change Table which supports up to 200kg.  Our changing tables fold up easily when not in use, creating the space you need in the bathroom.

Several weeks ago we featured our new range of Astor Bannerman Baths, including the Vanna Hi-Lo

with the push-button opening side door.  The entire Astor Bannerman range can also be used in  conjunction with out Overbath Stretcher.  This clever device can play a variety of roles in your bathroom.  It provides a solid base on which you can sit whilst assisting a patient or family member to bathe, and can also help in the process of lifting patients in and out of the bath itself.  Unlike a bath board, our Overbath Stretcher is wall-mounted, for additional safety and confidence in use.

Browse through our products online for more information and ideas for making bathing safer and easier.

CHS Healthcare in the Community - A Round Up of Recent Projects

If you want to know what CHS Healthcare can achieve, just look at our recent projects out in the community. These showcase the best in products and design around patient lifting.

In July 2014 CHS Healthcare finished installing what is probably our most efficient and varied design to date – at Box Hill Hospital. With over 420 individual rail systems allowing for bariatric, fixed and portable hoist usage, the Box Hill Hospital design incorporates all facets of care.  Have a look at the photographs on our website to see the sheer variety of hoists and rail systems used across wards from cardiac care to maternity.

We also work with many aged care facilities to ensure a balance between safe and workable patient lifting options, and unobtrusive design.  In January 2014 we finished outfitting the Australian Unity – Carlton Wellbeing Centre.  This spanned a space of five floors in inner-city Melbourne. The use of concealed fineline rail assisted us to ensure that all patients felt at home whilst in care.  Australian Unity decided upon a series of portable hoists in their design, choosing our popular Etac Molift Nomad, exclusively stocked by CHS Healthcare.

You may also have read our recent blog outlining our work in conjunction with Changing Places at Hawthorn Aquatic & Leisure Centre.  Our goal here was to ensure those requiring mobility aid not only had safe, hygienic places to change, but also to ensure that all areas of the facility were accessible for them. The result – a modern, functional space for all members of the community to enjoy.
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Schools also often seek design advice to cater for students with special mobility needs, and at Belvoir Wodonga Special School we designed workable systems for students to both learn and receive care. Through the use of over 100 external swivel points, telescopic curtain rails and CHS-stocked bathroom aids, we were able to create a space to help students be both inspired and supported.

All over the country and in every kind of care situation, CHS Healthcare offers you outstanding products, design, installation and service.  We don’t just make hoists and patient lifting accessories – we make a difference in so many lives.

BIM by CHS - Making It Even Easier to Design Healthcare Spaces

At CHS Healthcare we work tirelessly to support those who care for elderly patients and those requiring mobility aids.  First we launched the CHS App, which allowed builders, architects and therapists to access CHS products and services on the go. Now we have made it even easier to design spaces that cater for a variety of healthcare facilities such as hospitals, aged care and community or therapy areas. The answer - Building Information Modelling.

Building Information Modelling (or BIM) is an intelligent 3D model-based process for the planning, design and construction of a wide variety of spaces.  By creating data families that show the workings of ceiling hoist systems, change tables and more, we have streamline the way architects and designers can create healthcare spaces efficiently and accurately. The files we now contribute to the design and development process will create greater consistency in design, ensuring smoother processes for developers & builders and more practical use of time and resources for planners and architects.  We can all enjoy the confidence that we are working on a consistent, industry standard BIM platform, and immediately measure the benefits. We know the needs of our clients, and BIM assists us to ensure that this knowledge is protected and put into action.

When designing any structure, a variety of specialists are needed.  Let’s use a hospital as an example: each area of the hospital may require specialised advice as the how to incorporate the necessary elements in the most strategic, practical and cost-effective way.  At CHS Healthcare, we design fixed or portable ceiling hoist systems and curtain rail systems for a variety of areas within the hospital such as short stay, ICU, ED, ISO areas, Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy areas and many more.  However, it is often difficult to get all of the expert stakeholders in the room at the one time to work together on design.  This is why we have chosen to create BIM data for you - so that it facilitates a forum for easy communication between all members of the design team.

The information database and 3D model created in BIM co-ordinates all work done by the various team members.  We all work on the same model.  When changes are made to the model, BIM changes with it, and can detects design clashes that might otherwise hold up the construction process, or led to less than optimal outcomes.  Thus, the design is as accurate as possible.

There are many hospitals and healthcare facilities across Australia where BIM has been incorporated to design new spaces.  Now we can ensure these types of designs receive the right advice about ceiling hoists and related products as well. It’s just another way that we are leading the industry, as we have since 1997.

Stay tuned in the future for the release of BIM files for Changing Places.

New Product Alert! CHS Brings You The Best in Change Tables, Curtains And Baths

CHS Healthcare prides itself on offering clients and patient the very best products to assist their recovery and in their day-to-day lives. 

We have three new products that we are excited to share with you. 

Ropimex Curtain Systems

CHS Healthcare now supplies and installs Ropimex curtain rails with telescopic arms that allow for the rails to be folded away when not in use.  These are perfect for smaller spaces and when you need a more subtle appearance - just another way we assist people to see the patient, rather than all the equipment.

These adjustable curtain systems also improve safety - as ceiling hoist clash hazards are removed when curtains are folded neatly away.

One example of our great Ropimex products is the longest telescopic arm, the RTH 350, which extends 350cm with a height adjustable ceiling mount. This model is ideal for large areas that occasionally need to be partitioned off for patient privacy.

A range of designs means there is a Ropimex curtain rail ready for your home, hospital, therapy or medical room.  You can even choose the style and colour to blend in with existing decor.

Ropimex also offer folding walls - including mobile folding walls to give facilities even greater flexibility of use.

The full range of Ropimex products can be viewed on our website.

Astor Bannerman Change Tables

Nivano CTB

CHS Healthcare has expanded its range of Astor Bannerman change tables.  We continue to provide the popular Nivano Change Tables, which have been chosen for the Changing Places Initiative.  These heavy-duty changing tables can support up to 200kg. The Nivano CTB is even battery powered for additional versatility.

As a standard option, the CTM Manual Changing Table is also easily height adjustable, allowing for multiple carers to set the height of the table at an easy and safe level for them. This table is specifically designed for use in conjunction with hoists, and folds away to within 180mm of the wall.

Astor Bannerman Hi-Lo Baths

You will see in stock shortly a range of baths from Astor Bannerman as well.  These baths are made from the highest quality materials and are also height adjustable to help prevent back strain in carers.  This range of baths has increased internal width to allow for patient comfort and easier maneuverability for carers.

The Vanna Hi-Lo bath even has the additional feature of a side door that opens with the press of a button, to make helping patients out of baths easier for both carer and person in care.

Stay tuned and keep checking our website for more information on these exciting new products.

All Your Questions About Our Flexi-Link Connection Connection System Answered

At CHS Healthcare, one of our most successful products is our Flexi-Link Connection System.

The Flexi-Link Connection System is a world first product designed, patented and manufactured by CHS Healthcare.

Safety and ease of use are key concerns for carers when working with portable hoists.  So, CHS designed the Flexi-Link Connection System with portable hoists in mind. In less than ten seconds, you can connect your portable hoist to the ceiling rail, ready for a patient transfer.

Using the Flexi-Link Connection System is very straight-forward and safety is guaranteed with proper use. Simply use the Flexi-Link wand to connect the Flexi-Link head to the rail trolley. The head will lock automatically, and the wand detaches with a slight downward pull.  Once the patient or resident has been comfortably transferred, the connection system is easily re-attached by pushing gently upwards, unlocking the Flexi-Link Head.

The Flexi-Link connection head is the hero of this product - not only ensuring the quick and easy attachment of the hoist system, but also providing 4 safety points that eliminate fall risk, stop twisting of straps and slings, and keep the wand out of the head-collision area.

More details can be found on the training video on the website.

The Flexi-Link Connection System is compatible with all CHS approved portable hoists, and makes life so much simpler in facilities with changing hoist needs, such as hospitals and hotels, as well as therapy and medical rooms.

It is tested to meet and exceed Australian Safety Standards, and has a safe working load of 300kg.

With this kind of thinking, you know that CHS Healthcare is your first choice to supply and install your patient lifting systems.