Staff and patients at the Lewes Victoria Hospital have been expressing their thanks to the local League of Friends.
It comes after the Friends generously provided over £24,000 to buy 12 new profiling beds for Meadow Lodge which provides intermediate care and rehabilitation to patients.
Team Leader at Meadow Lodge, Sue Moore, says:
"The new beds have made a big difference and we are very grateful to the League of Friends for their continued support.
Patients can now change their position without needing to call a nurse.
This also saves nurses from changing someone's position manually, something which can be a risk to both nurse and patient.
Some of the beds also go down to a very low level, for example when there is a risk of a patient falling out of bed."
Each of the beds cost around £2000.
A number of them have 'dynamic' air mattresses which change shape when someone is lying on them to help prevent tissue damage to vulnerable areas, such as the base of the spine or the heels.
Sue Moore adds:
"We are planning to introduce 6 beds which can be set to alert staff should a patient get out of bed when this would be against his or her best interests.
Patients can often feel disorientated, especially at night. and forget that they are not able to manage as well as they used to.
This can often result in a fall, with severe consequences, if they get out of bed unaided.
These beds will help to prevent that happening."
