Staff have been taking part in training sessions with the new beds that will be used in our Intensive Care Unit when it opens later this year.

Colleagues joined Clinical Nurse Adviser Gill Taylor from Hill-Rom Ltd for training on how to use all the functions of the new beds – 16 of which have been bought for the new unit.

Charge Nurse Roberto Villanueva said a total of 150 staff were receiving training over the next five weeks in readiness for the unit to receive its first patients on Saturday 1 December.

“The beds we currently use have limited functions whereas the new ones are designed to advance mobility and accelerate recovery,” he explained.

“We are able to get patients into a standing position using the bed which reduces manual handling for staff and is more comfortable for the patient so the new beds are a welcome addition to our ICU.”

The new ICU, constructed by Skanska, has brought together Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) and the High Dependency Unit (HDU) creating an 18-bedded unit, which is an increase of five beds.