DB 2006(06) Safe Use of Bed Rails

This document updates and replaces our previous guidance provided in DB 2001(04) ‘Advice on the safe use of bed rails’.

This guidance:

• applies mainly to ‘third party’ bed rails, i.e. those that are not supplied by the bed manufacturer
• clarifies that bed rails used following an individual risk assessment can be very beneficial for some bed occupants
• draws attention to the need for a full risk assessment of the suitability of the bed rail, bed and bed base in combination for the bed occupant
• highlights the potential risks associated with the use of different types of bed rail
• provides general guidance for reducing the risk of entrapment
• provides information that can be used to develop a local policy to ensure the safe use of bed rails
• highlights the importance of regular maintenance
• provides information on how to report incidents to the MHRA
• identifies other literature which may be useful for background information or reference material.

This document is aimed at all users, carers and staff with responsibility for the provision, prescription, use, maintenance and fitting of bed rails. This includes:

• MHRA liaison officers (for onward distribution)
• nurses in hospitals and the community
• occupational therapists
• care home managers and staff
• carers in the community and care-at-home staff
• community equipment stores (CES) and loan store managers
• those responsible for purchasing beds and bed rails
• maintenance staff
• health and safety managers
• risk managers.
  

If you have any enquiries about this publication please send an e-mail to: dts@mhra.gsi.gov.uk or call us on 020 7084 3272.

At the moment this document is only available as a PDF document for downloading.

There is also a poster that complements this Device Bulletin.