A special cushion created in Bath to help doctors and nurses safely move critically ill patients is set to enter a clinical trial at the RUH.
The inflatable device, being demonstrated with a healthy volunteer | Image © University of Bath
Designed by engineers at the University of Bath in collaboration with doctors at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (the RUH), the Inflatable Prone Repositioning Device (IPRD) – known as the ’BathMat’ – is a flat, balloon-like cushion to help healthcare staff move the most critically ill patients in intensive care.
The clinical trial will begin later this year and run for 14 months, taking place at the Bath hospital as well as at other NHS trusts in the UK.
After receiving Research Capability funding from the RUH, as well as funding from the University’s Impact Acceleration Account, the project has received £357,000 from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) to determine the effectiveness of the device and to explore its commercial potential.
Critically ill patients on the intensive care unit who are sedated and on a ventilator with a severe lung injury can benefit from being placed on their front.
This can increase the oxygen levels in their blood and reduces their risk of death by up to 17%.
To avoid painful bed sores and injuries to other parts of the body, national guidelines require these patients to be repositioned every two to four hours. This is a complicated, manual task that requires up to seven staff to lift and carefully reposition the patient’s arms and head.
Great care must be taken not to displace the tubes and drips keeping the patient alive. Currently, this is done using sliding sheets or hoists, with repositioning accounting for over half a million staff hours per year in the NHS.
The researchers behind the device say they hope it will make it possible for just two staff to complete the process, and cut the time needed from over half an hour per position adjustment to less than 10 minutes.
Whilst substantially improving the safety of the procedure for patients, and releasing staff to perform other care duties, it also has the potential to reduce the risk of manual handling injuries for staff.
Currently, 16,500 patients are cared for in this way in the NHS each year. A device such as the IPRD could reduce the likelihood of pressure sores and organ injury, potentially allowing for more frequent repositioning.
The device could bring knock-on benefits such as freeing up staff to perform other duties and protecting staff-to-patient ratios.
The initial inspiration for the device came from Dr Jerome Condry, Anaesthetics Clinical Fellow at the RUH, who has extensive first-hand experience of the challenges of regular patient repositioning and is clinical lead on the project.
He said: “The device has been carefully developed as a close collaboration over the past two years. We have received regular feedback from clinicians and patients alike, being described as a game changer and no-brainer by independent reviewers.”
