Hospital furniture

How to specify a hospital bed

Electric against manual, how many functions you actually need, and the decisions that cost money later.

Departments: Medical & Healthcare

Most hospital bed disputes are not about the bed. They are about a function nobody specified, a mattress that was quoted separately, or a castor that will not fit through a ward door. Work through the points below before you ask for pricing and the quotation you get back will be comparable between suppliers.

1. Decide how the bed moves before you decide who makes it

Bed functions are counted by the number of powered or cranked adjustments:

• Two function — backrest and knee break. Suitable for step-down, frail care and observation beds where the patient is largely self-mobile.
• Three function — backrest, knee break and height. Height adjustment is the one that protects your nursing staff's backs, and it is the function most often dropped to hit a budget. Dropping it is usually a false saving.
• Four and five function — adds trendelenburg and reverse trendelenburg tilt. Needed for theatre recovery, ICU, and wherever positioning is clinical rather than comfort.

Manual beds are cheaper to buy and cheaper to keep running, and they are entirely appropriate where height changes are infrequent. Electric beds pay for themselves where staff adjust the bed many times per shift. Ask how the bed behaves in a power failure — a bed that cannot be lowered manually is a problem in a ward.

2. Specify the mattress at the same time

A bed platform without a mattress is not a bed. Decide the mattress category up front: standard foam for general wards, high-density or castellated foam where pressure risk is moderate, and alternating-pressure systems where it is high. Confirm the mattress dimensions match the platform, including any side-rail height requirement, because a deep pressure-relief mattress can raise the patient above a rail that was compliant with a thinner one.

3. Side rails, load rating and the patient you actually have

Confirm the safe working load, and confirm whether it is stated for the platform alone or for the patient plus mattress plus accessories. If you admit bariatric patients, a standard bed is not a bariatric bed with a heavier mattress; the frame, the castors and the width all differ. Check that side rails latch positively, drop clear of the mattress and cannot be released accidentally.

4. Castors, doors and lifts

Measure the narrowest doorway on the route from the loading bay to the ward, and the lift car if there is one. Then confirm the bed's overall width including rails and any bumper. Specify central braking if beds are moved often — chasing four individual castor brakes wastes nursing time. Confirm at least one castor is directional for corridor steering.

5. What to include in the request so quotations are comparable

• Number of functions, and electric or manual
• Mattress type and whether it is included
• Side rail type — full-length, split or collapsible
• Safe working load and whether bariatric use is expected
• Overall external width, and the narrowest door on the delivery route
• Accessories: IV pole, drip stand socket, bumper wheels, headboard removal
• Quantity, delivery address and whether assembly on site is required

Ask for the accessories to be priced as separate lines rather than bundled. It makes the comparison honest and lets you stage the purchase across budget periods.

6. Buy the bedside furniture with the bed

A bed, a lockable bedside cabinet and an overbed table are one purchase decision in practice. Buying them together means matching heights, one delivery and one quotation.