ACTION: ALL PRESCRIBERS MUST READ: MHRA Alert and updated guidance

On the 31st of August 2023 the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) released the attached national patient safety alert and recommendations in reference to entrapment risks, serious injury and fatalities associated with the provision of hospital beds, trolleys, bed rails, bed grab handles and lateral turning devices. 

The attached documents are relevant to all users, carers and staff with responsibility for the provision, prescription, use, maintenance and fitting of bedrails. 

This includes care home managers and staff, carers in the community and care-at home staff and those responsible for purchasing beds and bed rails.

There are a number of actions which need to be undertaken by the end of March 2024, which providers need to be aware of within the MHRA bed rails document. (See Attached)

You as a provider are responsible for completing all risk assessment on hospital or profiling beds, bed rails, bed grab handles or lateral turning devices that you have purchased and are using with individuals you care for, and that these risk assessments need to be completed on existing equipment by the end of March 2024, and ongoing thereafter.

I would like to remind you that if the individual no longer requires the equipment, and this has been issued to you via a health or social care prescriber, you need to arrange for it to be collected and returned to Medequip.

“Failure to take the actions required under this National Patient Safety Alert may lead to CQC taking regulatory action” MHRA 2023