In Leigh-on-Sea, Betty’s ‘Moment that Mattered’ showcased the effectiveness of innovative healthcare solutions right within her care home. At over 90, Betty is a spirited resident at Adalah Care Home, and a recent fall became an opportunity to demonstrate the efficiency of the Raizer chair. The chair allowed care home staff to lift her safely without waiting for paramedics or resorting to cumbersome winches, thus avoiding an unnecessary hospital trip.
“When Betty fell in such a tight space, it’s not always accessible to use a hoist, and this is where our Raizer chair comes in handy,” said a staff member at Adalah. Thanks to funding from the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System, over 100 care homes in the area have been equipped with these chairs.
Betty was back on her feet in no time, chatting away with fellow residents about her experience. She said, “I think you are better off to be looked after here. The ladies here can cope with us, I think they can.”
The Raizer chair is more than just a piece of equipment; it’s a game-changer in the realm of elderly care. It allows for more personalised care and avoids unnecessary hospital admissions, vastly improving residents’ overall well-being.
Betty concluded, “I feel that we’re well looked after. It helps the staff because they can’t pick everybody up. If they have a chair or something, I’m sure it’s a great help to them.”
Betty’s story transcript
In mid and south Essex, we’re exploring the benefits of joined up working in health and care through the eyes of local people.
Betty is in her nineties and has lived in a care home in Leigh on Sea for six years. Recently she had a fall and the care home staff were able to use a piece of equipment called a raizer chair to lift her up safely and easily.
The chairs were introduced into over 100 care homes in mid and south Essex, as well as training for staff to use them following funding from Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System.
The use of this equipment prevented Betty having to wait on the floor to be assessed by a paramedic and from going to hospital. Instead, she was soon chatting to her fellow residents about the experience and getting on with her day.
Some of the little things, reasons we fall are really not necessary to go to hospital. I think you are better off to be looked after here because if, you know, not many of us would have anything really dreadful I don’t, and the ladies here can cope with us, I think they can.
Betty is a lovely lady. She’s very chatty. She’s got her friends. She loves to spend most of her days in the garden. Since working here at Adalah for the last year, this is the first home I’ve worked in that has had a raizer chair, and I have found it very beneficial. So at Adalah we’ve used the raizer chair several times for our residents and before we were using either the hoist to get them off the floor, which was very awkward to get into small gaps and, or we would call an ambulance and the person would be waiting on the floor. Now with the raizer chair, my staff have been trained in the chair and we can get them up a lot quicker off of the floor, and it is much better for the residents.
When Betty had her fall, it was on the middle floor and our floors are not all one even space, we have stairs. So when Betty fell in such a tight space, it’s not always accessible to use a hoist, and this is where our raizer chair comes in handy. It may be used in bathrooms, bedrooms, landings. It can even be taken out and used into gardens.
Well, I think it’s a very good idea. I feel that, you know, we’re well looked after, it helps the staff because they can’t pick everybody up. If they have a chair or something, I’m sure it’s a great help to them.
Once Betty was got up off of the floor using the raizer chair, she was very thankful of this, saving her from going to the hospital. She was soon back to her usual self back downstairs on the ground floor, talking to her fellow resident, telling her, telling everybody how the robotic machine had got her up safely and quickly from the floor and that she definitely recommends it.
So what we were incredibly proud of in relation to raizer chairs is that we have deployed them across a hundred care homes within mid and south Essex. So that means that the people that we’re supporting to stay in their care home have a much better experience and can continue to live their lives in their care homes avoiding that hospital stay.
Health and care organisations working together to support older residents living in care homes or the community means: more personalised care, tailoring support to meet individual needs. It will prevent ill health to help support residents in their homes and potentially avoiding them being admitted to hospital and achieving better outcomes, delivering support in the community to improve people’s health and wellbeing.
Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System. Together we can make the moments that matter.