Jessica Dunn, Office Manager at Katherine Harriet looks at Moving and Handling Community Care
Moving and handling is used to describe the safe and proper manual handling of people and objects, such as lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling. In community care, this is mainly expressed when manoeuvring our clients around their home, this enables them to still able to live at home and be as independent as possible. This could be with the help of one or two carers, and sometimes with the use of equipment, that has been assessed by an Occupation Therapist.
Moving and handling can be used to support a client to:
- Getting in and out of bed
- To support with showering, personal care and support in bed
- Using the restroom
- Walking from one place to another, or moving
- Sitting down and standing up
- Getting in and out of vehicles
- To position into a safe and comfortable position and to support pressure relief
Safe ways of working
The goal of using moving and handling equipment and practices is to ensure that we are keeping our clients, and staff, safe at all times, and the client is still able to move around their home and have better enrichment in life. Before starting any moving and handling, we must first complete an assessment and build a care plan that is tailored to the client’s needs, with the correct risk assessments in place, that will detail the use of the equipment, the OT input and the risks that we need to mitigate to use it safely.
We also provide full training in moving and handling equipment before our staff use them, if there are any new pieces of equipment, we send out educational videos and follow up with observations. There are also many legislations we must follow in regards to moving and handling, these include:
- Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (MHOR)
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
Types of moving and handling equipment
There are many types of equipment that we use with our clients, at Katherine Harriet, some of these are to be manned and used by one person and some will require two members of staff to operate.
Our staff are unable to use any equipment that has not been assessed and provided by an OT for the clients.
- Stand aid (turn table), non electrical – This piece of equipment can be used one or two individuals, some clients will have a belt attached and others may not, each turn table can have different features, for example some may have wheels that allow you to move the equipment and client around and some you will only be able to stand and turn the client from A to B.
- Quickmove, Sara Stedy, Mackworth, non electrical – These standing aids are built for individuals who can weight bear, and can pull themselves up, but cannot stand for a longer period of time, it allows the client to sit back down and be moved from one place to another and particularly for clients who are unable to take steps or walk.
- Standing hoist, electrical – A standing hoist will support a client to stand and sit down, this will support a client who is able to weight bear, but may not be bale to have the strength to pull themselves up, or walk a distance. There will be a supportive sling that will be placed around the client, as they are pulled up electrically by the hoist.
- Full hoist, electrical – This hoist is an electrical piece of equipment that is operated by two members of staff, the client is unable to weight bear and there will be either a full body sling or access sling in place to support the client, this attaches to the hoist and the hoist will fully lift the client, the hoist will then be operated by two people to place the client into a correct and safe position.
There are other pieces of equipment that individuals can use, these are pieces of equipment that the client can independently use, but still allows them to lead an independent life at home. These include walking frames, walking sticks and wheelchairs.
Follow up
Clients will continually be monitored when using equipment, if there are any further deterioration, we will involve an OT, who will make further assessments to ensure that we are able to support the client in a safe way. Our Registered Manager will then have to go out and observe the new equipment or safe ways of working, and will update the care plan and risk assessments for our staff to follow.
What would happen if we didn’t follow safe ways of working
If there are not sufficient risk assessments, training, healthcare professional input and observations carried out, there could be fatal consequences for either the client, their relatives, and any staff involved in their care. Without proper safe ways of working in place, we would not be following legislation and this could lead to unsafe practices being used, this could result in accidents, injuries and in some outstanding cases, even death.
It is also important to adopt and carry out safe ways of working, to ensure our staff are looking after their own health and most importantly their back. If they do injure their backs, staff can face time out of work, time spent in pain and a long recovery to try and return to their normal duties and day-to-day activities. This can also have a psychological impact on the individual, which could lead to further time off from returning to work.
It is a reminder that this is a legal obligation for all to follow.
What to do if you feel you need help with moving and handling
If you feel you need help with moving and handling or you are struggling with your mobility, give the office a call on the below phone number, or email us, one of the care team will contact you back and book in an assessment and discuss your needs and how Katherine Harriet can support you.
Tel: (01432) 483083
Email: info@katherineharriet.care
Jessica Dunn
Office / Administration Manager
