Kingston Hospital Charity has funded the purchase of 12 recliner chairs for the Hospital’s recently opened Frailty Same Day Emergency Care Unit and Emergency Department’s Critical Decisions Unit.

The 12 fully reclinable chairs, which include six specialist chairs, will help to reduce the risk of patients developing pressure sores or falling while in hospital and will support Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust’s ongoing strategy to prevent the deconditioning of elderly and frail patients. 

Equipping the two new units with appropriate chairs will relieve pressure on the flow of frail patients in the Emergency Department (ED), helping to reduce the time they spend in ED and reduce their hospital stay as an inpatient, if admitted.      

The Frailty Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Unit provides urgent assessment and treatment to elderly and frail patients including the gold standard ‘Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment,’ without having to admit patients into hospital.  The chairs which are designed to make it easier to move and change a patient’s position, enable patients to sit out of bed in comfort while they are waiting to be assessed.

Clinical lead for frailty, Dr Ana Gutierrez-Larrainzar, said: “We are so grateful to Kingston Hospital Charity for funding these recliner chairs. Being able to seat elderly and frail patients in the appropriate manner in our new Frailty SDEC space will help to reduce the risk of these patients rapidly declining, even with minor illnesses, when they come into ED to be assessed.”

The Critical Decisions Unit is a short stay admission area within the Emergency Department where frail patients are assessed before it is decided if they need to be admitted into hospital.  

Emergency Department Critical Decisions Unit Service Support Manager, Serena Kang, said: “We know how vulnerable frail and elderly patients are to hospital acquired deconditioning. Thanks to Kingston Hospital Charity we can now offer those patients comfortable and supported seating in a calm space which will help to reduce their risk of deconditioning while they are waiting to be admitted.” 

The chairs for both services were funded by a £55,000 grant from Kingston Hospital Charity.