News & events

The Bariatric EvacMat is fast becoming a celebrity. Earlier in the year it appeared in Channel 4’s Bigger Body Squad and it has just made an appearance in an episode of BBC Scotland’s River City.

In this programme, a main character on the show, Big Bob, needs to be rushed to hospital when he developed chest pains and difficulties with his breathing. An ambulance crew arrive on the scene but are unable to move Bob due to his size, so a specialist Bariatric Ambulance and Crew are needed… Enter the Bariatric EvacMat! This well scripted scene shows what the Emergency…

For Susanne Schmidt, inventor of the OneLeg, the story of its’ creation begins with a small, charming cottage in Denmark where she lived with her husband. Susanne fell in love with the little cottage, once owned by her in-laws, and when she and her husband separated she decided to buy it.

One day while sorting through the attic there, she came across a ‘collar button stool’ which had been used by her ex-husband, who had been a bricklayer, as a seating aid whilst laying brick paving. The stool was made of wood and consisted of a single leg and a…

At Spectrum Healthcare (UK) Ltd we work closely with healthcare professionals and organisations to make sure we understand and can respond to the needs of our customers.

One major concern across the healthcare sector, is how to move a patient in the event of an emergency, whilst still following correct moving and handling procedures - reducing the risk of injury to both service user and staff.

Reports from the Health & Safety Executive show that in health and social care services, moving and handling injuries account for 40% of work-related sickness absence. Around 5000 moving and handling…

The Bariatric EvacMat, which is the original product from our Bariatric Equipment Range has recently made an appearance on Channel 5’s Bigger Big Body Squad. This product evolved from our original evacuation equipment range, which includes Ski Sheets, Ski Pads, AlbacMat & ResQmat all of which have a safe working load of up to 160kg.

It was agreed that we had to look at alternatives for bariatric patients & residents and in conjunction with Bradford Hospital and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, we developed the Bariatric EvacMat which can cope with up 350kg, more than twice the weight of…

The problems created by the increasing obesity of the world population has always been present but over recent years it is becoming more and more of an issue to the First Response Emergency Services when being called out to attend a Bariatric Client.

Modern lifestyle, the availability of food and lack of exercise all contribute to the problems they face. In this modern lifestyle we tend to drive everywhere complain if we don’t have a TV remote and have to get up off our comfy chairs to change channel and because of our wonderful technology there is a lack of…

I’m frequently asked how I went about inventing and developing the ErgoKneeler™ (or EK™ as it affectionately known) and I have to say that there was no instantaneous ‘eureka moment’. As a physio and moving and handling facilitator I had been revisiting the issues around low working postures for most of my professional life and had often given thought to the possibility of creating a piece of equipment that could make life better for staff. Something that would improve spinal posture, reduce musculoskeletal stressing and most importantly, somehow reduce time spent in a static posture.

Using my knowledge as a…

It is our belief that with the sale of any type of evacuation or moving and handling equipment there lies a responsibility on the part of the provider (and/or on the purchasing authority) to ensure that all users have received adequate product training.

At Spectrum Healthcare UK Ltd product training is available for all of their product range and depending upon the value of the order and the location of the purchasing authority this may be provided free of charge.

However, the emphasis on practical training for the equipment is often underestimated and in some quarters, the emergence of “online…

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is a piece of legalisation which places responsibility on individuals within an organisation to carry out risk assessments to identify, manage and reduce the risk of fire with in their premises. This law came into force on 1 October 2006 and applies to the whole of England and Wales. New legislation was also introduced in Scotland which mirrors the risk based approach of the English/Welsh legislation.

These new pieces of legalisation replaced over 70 pieces of existing legalisation and two major acts - The Fire Precautions Act 1971 and Fire Protection (Workplace) Regulations…

We are very pleased to have been able to support the very worthy Matt Hampson Foundation by donating 30 Biston Bags — an ergonomically designed wheelchair handling bag which helps to reduce the load and bulk of the wheelchair when being moved from one place to another, like in and out of a car boot (download factsheet).

Matthew “Hambo” Hampson (born 29 November 1984) is a former English rugby union prop who became quadriplegic after a scrummaging practice accident for England under 21’s.

Matt took up rugby as a 5-year old for Oakham, joining Syston RFC when he was 12…

After a record year for Spectrum Healthcare (UK) Ltd in 2012, our success in 2013 was a reflection of many factors such as the expansion of our overseas customer base and the continued participation at a number of conferences, exhibitions and UKTI funded events.

In particular, RehaCare 2013 (September) and Moving and Handling People 2013 (January) were particularly successful for us and reinforce the fact that we need to attend such events to maintain our ongoing relationships with industry professionals and to meet new contacts.

Following a few years absence we are returning to Arab Health (Dubai) in January 2014…