A delivery of 80 new Glideaway® beds  has arrived at Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull, that will make a huge difference to patients’ families who need to stay overnight at the hospitals.

Glideaway® beds are special folding guest beds that can be used on wards to allow patients’ families to stay at their side whilst they are in hospital.

There are now 80 new Glideaway® beds across the three hospital sites, which were purchased by the hospital charity as part of its commitment to go ‘over and above’ for patients and their families across the West Midlands.

The Glideaway® beds are designed for daily heavy duty use and conform to the strict infection control and health and safety standards set by the hospitals, whilst offering a comfortable night’s sleep for people of all ages. The beds will allow more family members to stay alongside their loved ones whilst they are being treated, and this will be particularly important on the palliative care and children’s wards.

Alyson John, Bereavement Sister at Heartlands Hospital said: “I am delighted that we now have so many additional Glideaway® beds here at Heartlands Hospital. We have many patients who benefit greatly from having a family member staying nearby, and now thanks to these beds the family members can get some proper rest, rather than staying up all night sleeping in an uncomfortable chair.

“The beds are fantastic for staff as well as patients, as we can easily transport them to the ward or bay where they are needed and they’re easy to keep clean and to store. On behalf of all of the staff at Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospital I would like to thank the hospital charity, and their supporters, for enabling us to have these additional Glideaway® beds.”

Jitan Vadgama,  Operations Director at GP Care Systems, made a visit to Heartlands Hospital alongside his Managing Director, John Miller, to see the beds in their new home, and to speak to the members of staff who will be using them on their wards. Jitan said: “GP Care Systems is incredibly proud to have provided an additional 80 Glideaway® beds to the Charity this year, for use at the three hospital sites.

“This follows 44 beds being provided in 2016 to the Charity for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The Glideaway® bed is a really high quality product that is suitable for daily  heavy duty use and is designed to be incredibly durable, we have beds still in service that were purchased some 25 years ago.

“I was delighted to hear Alyson speaking of the difference that the beds will make to patients and their families across the three hospitals. My wife gave birth to our daughter last year at our local hospital and from personal experience, it’s virtually impossible to sleep on a chair comfortably.  We are very happy to be able to provide this level of comfort to those families who really should not need to worry about comfort during their time in hospital.

Congratulations to the charity for putting things in place that really do go ‘over and beyond’ above’ to help patients, visitors and staff.”

Mike Hammond, Chief Executive of the hospital charity said: “The hospital charity works to provide ‘added extras’ for staff, patients and their families across the West Midlands. I am delighted that the Charity has been able to fund the additional Glideaway® beds for Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull. The Charity previously funded 44 Glideaway® beds for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in 2016, where they have been used by families across the hospital.”

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