Harrogate Neighbours cut fall assistance times from 6 hours to 15 minutes thanks to emergency lifting chair.
Harrogate-based Yorkshire Care Equipment have supplied local charity, Harrogate Neighbours, with a Raizer emergency lifting chair. The specialist lifting device is now regularly used by the team across their domiciliary care services and at The Cuttings, their extra care housing facility. Residents live independently in private apartments with a care team on-site 24/7 to provide assistance if needed.
In the past, the care team had struggled to safely help residents back up quickly. They didn’t have the appropriate equipment to allow a carer to lift someone back to their feet on their own. So, they had to rely on waiting for ambulance call outs.
The Homecare Manager at Harrogate Neighbours said:
“On average, we deal with around one fall per month where the resident needs assistance. Before we got the Raizer, we were having to ring an ambulance every time. Sometimes, the person who had fallen would be laid on the floor for up to six hours waiting for the ambulance to get to us. Then they’d have to be hoisted up by the paramedics.”
“But now, we are able to help someone straight away. The Raizer is pretty instant. We had one resident who fell at 12.10 and by 12.25 they were sat in the dining room having their dinner. Anyone can use it, it’s really simple. We include it in manual handling training for new staff and no one is scared to use it.”
The Raizer emergency lifting chair is a unique fall assist product because it only needs one carer to operate it. This saves time and money for care staff both at The Cuttings and across wider healthcare services.
Harrogate neighbours have been able to support the local community, as well as The Cuttings residents, using just one Raizer lifting device. This is because the chair splits down into 7 lightweight pieces for transportation.
The domiciliary care team can pack everything up into the rucksack provided, put it in the back of the car and use it out in the community. Since receiving the Raizer, staff have used it more than eight times to help people up after a fall.
Lynsey Robinson, Senior Team Lead at Harrogate Neighbours, described one of her experiences:
“I used it in a carpark when someone had blown over in the wind. It was on concrete, so I was a bit worried, but it worked brilliantly. Everything was very relaxed and now everyone swears by it.”
The Raizer has been designed to provide a stable lifting experience on a range of surfaces. It can lift people up to 150kg in weight and can provide up to 100 lifts on just one charge.
