A product invented by a hospital engineer and nurse to keep patients’ beds tidy has been so successful it’s now available to buy online.
The BedheadTidy was developed by nurse Emma Thomson and former biomedical engineer SteveConnew after they were concerned with the messy storage of tubing and cables hungby patients’ beds causing contamination issues and avoidable additional costs.
Funding support through the Innovation team at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) where they worked, meant it was developed, tested and trialled and is now available for other health and care providers to buy.
Steve Connew, who has now retired but worked as an electro-biomedical engineeringoperational manager at ESNEFT, said: “This is such a great step for the simple and cost effective Bedhead Tidy. It was many years in development, so to seethe Bedhead Tidy in the market place to help improve patient safety felt like amassive achievement - but to have the product available to other healthcare& care providers is fantastic.”
Steve and Emma worked with the Innovation team for support, expertise and funding throughthe Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity across areas such as financial costing and design protection.
Emma Thomson, who is now head of resuscitation services at ESNEFT, said: “When you’re working inhealthcare it means you have to adapt all the time to the needs of the patient. The Bedhead Tidy seemed such an obvious idea, but it’s great we had the support to develop it and now we can fit it to all beds across the Trust to help staffand therefore patients to make time matter.”
“It’s a simple device and helps us do our job.It’s also cost saving as it prevents wastage from items that are no longer able tobe used and have to be thrown away. Every penny counts."
Through theInnovation team, the duo also had support from Health Tech Enterprise, who wereable to provide advice around intellectual property rights and wereable to lead the negotiations for the licensing agreement to help bring thedevice to market.
In addition, they have played avital role in providing strategic advice to enable prototype development andtrial testing of the Bedhead Tidy in real-world settings.
This ensured that the Bedhead Tidy could transition seamlessly from concept to market launch. The Bedhead Tidy is available in three different designs for hospital beds, specialist care beds (neonatal andcritical care) as well for the beds in the community offering versatility tosuit various healthcare settings.
DrKaren Law at Health Tech Enterprise said: "We are thrilled to have played apivotal role in bringing this innovative solution to life. The Bedhead Tidyexemplifies the power of collaboration and underscores our commitment tosupporting NHS innovation. It's a simple yet brilliant idea that willsignificantly benefit both patients and healthcare teams – and an excellentexample that innovation doesn’t have to be high-tech to make an impact.”
The Bedhead Tidy is now availableon the Walters Medical website.
