When it comes to specialist seating, it pays to be prepared
We’re half way through the year which means it’s the perfect time to start thinking about getting your specialist seating in tip top condition ready for the winter months. As awful as it is to think about in the midst of all the recent sunshine, getting your equipment fit for purpose now will mean it’ll cost you less in the long-run. Those dusty old chairs that were put in the back of the store room, that bariatric chair that’s sounding a bit creaky, the tilt-in-space seat that’s looking a bit tired, now’s the time to give your specialist seating a new lease of life.
As well as providing a full range of specialist seating to buy or rent, at Premiere Healthcare we offer hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and private homes a full assessment of existing seating equipment. We also offer repair and decontamination services on all major brands of specialist chairs, giving you a cost-effective way to keep your specialist seating stock in tip top condition.
Servicing specialist seating
We’d love to help you find a shiny new chair to replace your old stock, but the reality is that it’s not always necessary. We also hate waste, so if a chair can be deep-cleaned, repaired and restored, that’s what we prefer to do.
Our team of specialist seating experts have over 15 years of knowledge and training behind them. They can assess the state of your current seating and make recommendations about how to return your chairs to their optimum condition.
For example, you may not have noticed that small nick in the material on the underside of your patient’s bariatric chair. If left for too long, that nick will become a breeding ground for germs such as norovirus, and in a worse-case scenario, could lead to a costly ward closure.
To really get the most out of your specialist seating, we recommend routine servicing assessments at least once a year. That way we can catch and fix small problems before they become major headaches.
Reduce risk of infection with decontamination
There’s a lot more to our decontamination process than a quick wipe-down. We have a purpose-built decontamination facility at our premises in Tewkesbury where we use steam injection and the OTEX disinfection system to bring chairs back to life.
It can take half a day to strip down a chair, deep clean it and put it back together again, good as new. That’s why we recommend a rolling programme of cleaning, so that your chairs are in top condition at all times. Regular deep cleaning of hospital chairs, beds and mattresses will also protect against the risk of infection.
Repair rather than replace
There’s no getting away from it, new specialist seating can be expensive. So it makes sense to save money where you can. It goes without saying that the cost of cleaning and repairing specialist seating such as bariatric and tilt-in-space chairs is more affordable than buying new specialist equipment.
We’ve been servicing specialist seating for hospitals, hospices and nursing homes for nearly two decades. In that time, we’ve repaired hundreds of chairs for all the major brands such as CareFlex, Kirton, CURA seating and Primacare.
Repairs can range from fixing technical malfunctions to replacing broken wheels and ripped fabrics. We offer this service to all hospices, hospitals, nursing homes and private homes, even if we didn’t originally provide the equipment.
It pays to be prepared
It’s human nature to leave things to the last minute, but unfortunately it’s not a very efficient way of working! Some of your specialist chairs might not be used every day, but they do need to be ready in case a client’s needs change. That’s why we advise routine assessment and servicing, preferably on a twice-yearly rolling programme.
For example, what would happen if you’d never quite got round to fixing the brakes on that shower commode and a patient needs to start taking showers? Or that Kirton Omega chair that would be perfect for a new client but is still missing a wheel from two months ago? Health and Safety will dictate that you wouldn’t be able to use what is otherwise a perfectly good chair.
Making sure your specialist seating equipment is fit for purpose and ready to use will save you money and stress in the long-run. We offer bespoke servicing packages that we can tailor to suit you and the needs of your clients. And we offer this service on all major brands of specialist seating, regardless of whether we originally supplied you or not.
If you’d like us to arrange a spring clean or assessment of your specialist seating equipment, then we’d be happy to help. Please call us on 0345 521 1819 so we can discuss your requirements.
