Assessment

Moving People

Patient Assessment – Why have a Safer Patient Handling Procedure?

To eliminate hazardous manual handling operations in all but exceptional or life-threatening circumstances.

The Excel EMS workforce, are high-risk professions for developing musculoskeletal disorders – particularly back problems, by persisting in manually moving patients. It is acceptable to give a patient some support, but not to take most or all of their weight.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations establish a hierarchy of measures:

• Avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as is reasonably practicable.

• For those operations that cannot be avoided, the situation must be assessed.

• Reduce the risk of injury from those operations as far as is reasonably practicable. When dealing with patients:

• Avoid lifting/manually moving them, and encourage them to do what they can for themselves.

• Assess what they can and cannot do for themselves, and then use the most appropriate technique or piece of equipment to move them.

• The number of staff needed to move the patient safely can vary so clinical staff should also work closely with carers/relatives or outside agencies to reduce the risk of injury to both staff and patient.

It is essential to assess the patient’s level of mobility patients must be assessed for their moving and handling needs, as with all other protocols – documented, changed as necessary, and acted upon.

The patients and their carers/relatives must be made aware of the Excel EMS Safer Handling Policy and why we use safer handling techniques.

What needs to be documented:

• What the patient can or cannot do for themselves.

• What equipment and numbers of staff are required to move them?

• If the patient uses any mobility aids – sticks, walking frame.

• If the patient’s condition changes, they need to be re-assessed

All staff must know and act on this information