A YORK woman with an eye for innovation has seen one of her designs brought to reality and into use on the wards of York Hospital.
After searching in vain for a device to easily transport heavy hospital mattresses, portering manger Brenda Swales decided to design and build her own with help from a company specialising in clinical equipment.
The company was so impressed with the device it has now been included in their products catalogue and has been named after its creator.
Speaking of her inspiration behind the Swales Mattress Trolley, Brenda said mattresses required two porters to left them between departments. She said: “My task was to order a trolley that could carry mattresses – the only problem was I couldn’t find one.
“A recent NHS campaign to prevent patients getting pressure ulcers meant that we were moving more of this equipment between wards, requiring two porters at a time to carry the bulky items so that they would not get damaged.”
After consulting with her team and handing her rough designs to Oldham-based G & J Logistics, the trolley was born and is now available to other hospitals throughout the UK.
Porter Craig Austin was one of the first in the hospital to use the trolley. He said: “Mattresses are really heavy to carry – the trolley has made our lives a lot easier. It’s simple to use and can be easily operated by one person so it saves time and manpower.”
Despite having no background in design, Brenda has also worked on the production of a more manoeuvrable wheelchair for use at York Hospital.
She said: “When the porters are transporting poorly patients the chairs need to be comfortable.
“They need to carry the patient’s belongings and be easy to manoeuvre to prevent manual handling problems for the porters. With the old wheelchairs it was really hard to push a heavy patient over a carpeted area so we now have a chair that can do the job more efficiently.”
Chris Farrand, of G & J Logistics, said: “Brenda understands exactly what is needed to develop equipment that is really effective – if ever she needs a job I’m sure we could use her.”
Taking the strain
SOMEONE who deserves to be nominated for next year’s Community Pride Awards is Brenda Swales.
She is a great example of an unsung hero, who has taken the back-breaking work out of transporting mattresses at York Hospital with her Swales Mattress Trolley.
She designed her own because there was nothing on the market that fitted the bill.
And she hasn’t stopped there. Wheelchairs at the hospital are notoriously difficult to manoeuvre, especially on carpets. So Brenda decided to design one that was. Now poorly patients can at least be taken from ward to ward in a bit more comfort.
Let’s hope someone nominates Brenda for the 2012 Community Pride Awards.
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