The equipment is our Sella mobility stairclimber, prescribed through the Occupational Therapy service at Ainsdale Centre for Health & Wellbeing.
Dad Paul says that our Sella has made a massive difference to family life normality: Isaac can have a bath again, sleep in his own bed in the room he shares with his brother, and they have space and freedom to be a family downstairs.
Isaac , 9, was born with Cerebral Palsy and has dystonia. A mistake during brain surgery meant to improve his quality of life made Isaac’s condition worse: he became less able and heavier.
Paul and his wife Rachel were struggling to carry Isaac up and down the steep stairs in their Victorian home.
The only answer for everyone’s safety until a solution was found was to move Isaac’s hospital bed into the front room.
The family’s Occupational Therapist Helen Murphy appreciated the family’s desire for Isaac to be able to access upstairs, to be in his own bedroom and be able to bath.
So she reached out to us to assess Isaac, the family and the home environment to determine whether our Sella mobility stairclimber would be appropriate.
Sella worked! Paul and Rachel found it easy to transport Isaac up, down the stairs and on to their final destination- the bathroom, bedroom, lounge, with no need to lift/transfer Isaac en-route…
Sella is the UK’s top-selling mobility stairclimbing wheelchair. Its light weight, high balance point and automatic braking make it easy for Paul and Rachel to use.
Sella’s in-built seat, arms and lap belt mean Isaac is always safe and comfortable, even if he has a dystonic episode whilst on the stairs.
For the family, it was an added bonus that AAT made the effort to deliver the Sella the week before Christmas.
“It made such a difference to our Christmas celebrations!” says Paul. “Isaac could be with his siblings upstairs and have a stocking at the end of his bed on Christmas morning. We were able to celebrate as a family, with space, in the front room.”
Adds Paul: “We know life will never be ‘normal’, but we want Isaac to do as much as he can. Little things like being able to have a bath, which he loves, and to be with his brother and sister upstairs make all the difference. Now he can do those things again, because we can safely get him up and down stairs with the stairclimber.
“And hopefully, in the summer, we can use it to get him out into the back garden too!”
Full details of the Sella stairclimbing wheelchair, how it works and how to book a free no obligation assessment can be found @ www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/.
Already, almost 1million people have dementia. Half of the UK population will be dealing with dementia in our lifetime(1).
Only 7% of our homes have key accessibility features such as a ground floor WC.
Dealing with dementia and its impact mobility and movement means that even something as mundane as going up, down stairs- to bed, to bath, to use the toilet- becomes difficult.
It can even be potentially dangerous.
You can manage the risk, quickly and easily.
And you can do it without any of the delay usual with a home adaptation, and without impacting on how others in the household can use the stairs.
Our S-Max Sella stairclimber/ stairclimbing wheelchair is a portable, mobile unit that folds compactly away when not in use.
Class 1 Medical Device certified, Sella provides a proven, safe, supported way for you, the carer, to take the dementia patient up and down stairs- and beyond.
Familiar routines can be preserved. Mobility and movement around the home is restored.
You don't need to transfer your loved one from the Sella at the top or bottom of the stairs. Sella continues the journey onwards to whichever room, further improving safety.
Sella is battery-operated. Each charge delivers sufficient power to undertake 300 steps. You have complete control over the speed.
You can pause the step process en route. Sella automatically smoothly brakes at the top of each riser to maintain complete operator control.
We support your Occupational Therapist in assessment of the home environment, dementia sufferer and their carers to ensure all are comfortable with the kit.
We also set up the Sella to suit each person involved and train you in how to use it.
Julie Murray was given a Sella to help her with her husband Robert who has dementia.
Their OT realised the only way the family could get Robert up, down stairs to bed and bathroom was on son Harry’s back!
Julie says, “The Sella has changed our lives! It’s made daily life so much safer. It has meant I can keep Robert’s routine, life, as normal as possible, getting him up to bed.
"With only having one toilet at the time, upstairs, the Sella meant I can get him there in time.
"And even with a wetroom downstairs now, the Sella is still in daily use, getting Robert up in the morning and to bed at night.”
Full details of Sella, including how to book a free, no obligation assessment, can be found here:
https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/.
(reference: (1)https://dementiastatistics.org/about-dementia/prevalence-and-incidence/)
You may also be interested in:
https://www.aatgb.com/deal-with-steps-and-stairs
Falls and manual handling are among the most common personal injury claims lodged against Councils(2), the bill for which now tops £100m(3).
Minimising risk is therefore a growing priority.
Thus, AAT has developed its recycling (re-issue) package, whereby its stairclimbers already purchased by the Local Authority can be re-allocated and in use within a matter of days.
That the stairclimber can be collected from stores or the previous user and taken direct to the new potential client.
This removes the delay of arranging for the client to travel to a demonstration site for a stairlift or similar device, further accelerates the speed with which the risk is managed.
No other stairway access system can be delivered so cost-effectively, so fast, AAT believes.
AAT’s recycling scheme can be utilised by almost every Local Authority in the UK, as almost all have kit in stock among in its equipment.
“With budgets under so much pressure, every opportunity to make every £ work as hard as possible must be taken,” says Peter Wingrave, AAT Director.
“It’s not just about the money. It is about quality of life- and safety- for the vast number of client awaiting adaptations to their homes.
"It is about supporting OTs and adaptations teams to effect a solution- whether short or long-term- quickly. It is about helping their- and their clients’- mental health & wellbeing.”
Leeds City Council is one Authority already making use of AAT’s recycling scheme, to the extent AAT manages the Councils’ stairclimber stock too.
Says Leeds City Council Occupational Therapy Team Manager Jane Fisher: “Funds and time are under pressure now more than ever. This means we can quickly empower clients to still be able to access all levels of their home, with the peace of mind that the right kit is being supplied, maintained and serviced, and in full working order.”
Full details of AAT’s re-issue facility can be found here:
https://www.aatgb.com/taking-steps-to-reduce-adaptation-delay-for-650-recycle/.
ENDS
References:
(1)https://bregroup.com/press-releases/bre-report-finds-poor-housing-is-costing-nhs-1-4bn-a-year/
(2)https://www.legalexpert.co.uk/top-10-councils-personal-injury-compensation/
(3)https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/bill_for_council_compensation_payments_tops_100_million
The transformation is the outcome of the approach adopted by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust Occupational Therapist Andrea Williams, who turned to us.
Now, for the first time in two years, Sarah can not just get out of her bedroom, but outside too!
Andrea realised an S-Max Sella stairclimber could be the solution to stopping Sarah being bed bound.
It would give Sarah the means to safely navigate the staircase with its two turns in the Grade II listed two-storey house.
What's more, it could get her outside too!
When we demonstrated S-Max Sella and how it would work in their home, Sarah and her husband James asked Andrea to prescribe it for them.
Husband James, operates and controls the Sella, after training from us.
He uses the portable, battery-powered Sella to safely transfer Sarah up and down the stairs and on to whichever room she wants to go.
It even steps across the raised threshold of the door to outside and the garden!
“Even getting from her bed to a reclining chair tires Sarah out,” explains James. “With the stairclimber, we only have one transfer.
"One of Sarah’s goals was to spend time outside. She was blown away with the stairclimber: it was the first time in almost two years she had been downstairs, let alone out into the garden!
"The stairclimber’s so versatile, it easily dealt with the lip on the door to the patio.”
Adds Andrea, “Being listed meant it would be difficult to adapt the house to accommodate a stairlift or through-floor lift.
"The effort of transferring from bed to wheelchair to stairlift then off the stairlift would exhaust Sarah.
"A stairlift may have been able to get her up and downstairs, but she’d still be confined to the house.
"I am so pleased it’s made such a difference to them both.”
We are the UK’s leading supplier of stairclimbers, with the Sella being the #1 seller.
Strong yet lightweight and completely portable, Sella features a perfect balance point and PowerStep feature which means the smallest carer can easily operate and control the unit. They can even pause or stop en-route if needed.
When not in use, it folds compactly away.
There's no need for installation, home adaptation nor impingement on the stairway or part of the home for other members of the household
Our range of accessories enable the Sella to accommodate every passenger’s safety and postural support: options address seating and harnessing requirements from head to toe.
More details of AAT’s Sella and range of accessories, plus the ability to book a free, no obligation assessment, can be found here: https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/.
Legally, landlords must allow disabled tenants to make changes necessary to their full enjoyment of the premises. The landlord must reasonably accommodate their needs, one of the most common of which is mobility.
Under the Housing Health & Safety Rating System, the landlord has to take necessary steps to make stairway access safe, inside and outside of the property AND in common areas.
Inside the home, making the stairs safe usually means the physical installation of equipment (eg a stairlift) which then incurs cost and delay for it removal and making good when that tenant vacates the property.
Common parts can pose problems, to ensure any solution does not adversely impact the safety of other, able tenants when they are using the stairs.
AAT’s pioneering S-Max Sella stairclimber/ stairclimbing wheelchair delivers an almost immediate way to enable a tenant with reduced mobility- whether a short- or long-term limitation- to safely transfer up, down almost any stairs or steps.
The portable unit is not fixed in any way to the stairs, leaving stairway access unimpeded within the property for other residents.
Battery-powered, with an integral seat and safety strap/harness, it climbs or descends steps at a consistent pace set by the operator and folds compactly away when not in use.
S-Max Sella has an impeccable safety record throughout its 20 years of utilisation on UK stairways. AAT also supplies S-Max which can be attached to a wheelchair.
AAT fully trains the care-giver in safe operation of the unit, and uniquely provides a range of packages covering service & maintenance and equipment management.
The S-Max Sella can be sourced by the tenant via the local authority social services, or forward-thinking housing associations can buy themselves to almost immediately make its housing stock safe for almost all tenants who either have, or develop, reduced mobility.
The S-Max Sella can be easily allocated to a new tenant when the original recipient no longer needs it(*).
“Stairs are one of the most common areas where people fall- whether disabled or not,” says Peter Wingrave AAT Director. “All landlords have a duty of care to ensure tenant safety. Our S-Max Sella is proven over 20 years to manage the risk of stairs and steps, and make stairway access safe.”
Full details of the S-Max stairclimber can be found at https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/where a free, no obligation assessment can also be booked.
We are seeing a 20+% year on year increase in sales over the past five years.
And we are seeing a growth in re-issue of the equipment to occupational therapy clients beyond the person for whom the equipment was initially purchased.
The upturn is due, we believe, to growing understanding of the role our stairclimbers can play in managing the risk of falls and reduced mobility on stairs. And the speed with which we can deliver, thereby facilitating hospital discharge whether as a short, medium, or long-term solution.
More equipment out there, and more equipment being used, means more equipment needs to be serviced, and more people need to be trained on its use.
“With thousands of S-Max Sella units already in daily use across the country, many of which have been in use for 10 years or more, we believe we have a duty of care to support our clients so that our stairclimbers/ stairclimbing wheelchairs continue to help people return to or remain in their home and for the S-Max Sella to build on its proven, impeccable safety record,” says Peter Wingrave, AAT Director.
“Alongside that, with the continuing increase in sales, we have growing demand for training. We are training OTs in the role stairclimbers can play in empowering people to remain at home and/or to expediate hospital discharge. We are training the care givers in the safe operation of the equipment. And we’re setting up the equipment to the personal needs of each recipient and their carer(s).
“We’re committed to doing it right, and without delay. The only way we can do that is to expand the team to match demand and spend all the time someone needs to ensure they are comfortable prescribing or using S-Max Sella.”
Full details of the S-Max Sella range of stairclimbers- the established #1 stairclimbing wheelchair brand in the UK and the only one supported by truly nationwide sales, service & support- plus how to book a free, no obligation assessment, can be found @ https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/.
The report builds on a BRE study that similarly claimed investment in preventative steps to make homes safe would reduce the 1million+ accidents on stairs(2) – the second most common hazard in homes.
AAT the stairclimber people say the cost in time and money is not as great as adaptations professionals perceive, if they look beyond the ‘norm’.
And such an attitude enables multiple clients to be supported from one solution.
Provision of an S-Max Sella stairclimber aka stair climbing wheelchair, especially with AAT’s unique Universal Back accessory, makes stairway access safe for anyone who has, or cares for someone, with reduced mobility- be it an elderly partner through to a child with complex needs.
Unlike the conventional answers for help with stairs, the S-Max can be operational in the home within days of the need being identified(3).
There is no need for the usual processes that cause delay such as a structural survey, specialist installation etc.
The battery-powered portable Class 1 Medical Device also leaves the stairway free for other members of the household.
When not in use, it folds away, optimising living space.
Unlike fixed alternatives, the stairclimber/ stair climbing wheelchair can also enable the user to access outside spaces.
When the original recipient no longer needs it, the S-Max can be re-prescribed to another.
Tio further help adaptations professionals, AAT will manage the whole process. It will assess the client and the home to determine suitability, deliver and set up the S-Max, train the care-giver to LOLER requirements. AAT will also service the equipment to meet the provider’s legal obligations and manage the allocation process between users.
Further details of S-Max and AAT’s support for housing providers can be found @ https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/.
References:
One of the biggest reasons for bed-blocking and delay in hospital discharge is ongoing patient need. 35% of patients require an ongoing package of care. 45% of patients are discharged with up to six weeks’ recovery support from health & social services.
AAT GB has a quick, safe answer with its range of stairclimbers/ stair climbing wheelchairs.
“One of the biggest problems in getting people home, safely, is the suitability of their home if they have reduced mobility,” says AAT Director Peter Wingrave.
“They may need a wheelchair some or all of the time. How do they then access their bedroom, bathroom? The traditional route is to delay whilst an adaptation is provided.
“Taking an innovative approach- providing a stairclimber- delivers a best value solution.
"It allows the person to be discharged with safe, appropriate means of accessing all floors of their home, on the proviso there is someone else at home to assist. A significant proportion of people only need that help for the short term."
Answering the Government’s Hospital Discharge Service: Policy & Operating Model, a stairclimber (stair climbing wheelchair) can be provided, with appropriate training, for as short a duration as a week.
This enables the patient to be transferred throughout their home without re-arranging the whole house to provide, for example, a downstairs bed , or discharge to be delayed as there is no accessible downstairs WC, waiting for a stairlift or similar to be installed.
The German-engineered AAT S-Max stairclimber offers the greatest flexibility on the market, accommodating all shapes and sizes, from paediatric to morbidly obese (230kg) passengers.
The S-Max stairclimber can accommodate narrow and even spiral flights of stairs.
Options feature an integral seat eliminating the need for a wheelchair indoors, or can clip-fix to a wheelchair if preferred. The top-selling S-Max stairclimber is Class 1 Medical device certified.
If purchased by the local authority or NHS Trust, the stairclimber can be taken into stores when the original recipient no longer needs it, for subsequent re-issue, thereby expediting patient discharge in the longer term. AAT provides full, LOLER-accredited training for the caregiver.
Using this re-issue option, someone can be supported in their discharge for less than £1000.
Find out more: https://www.aatgb.com/hire-rental/ or by telephoning 01978 821875, or visiting www.aatgb.com and using the Live Chat facility at the bottom of the home page.
The trend is towards people dying at home(1).
There is also growing emphasis on a person-centred approach. This includes social and psychological support, and reduces unnecessary hospital admissions.
A step change in thinking could help better someone’s end of life journey, their palliative care. It could simultaneously ease distress to the family, and strain on already-stretched community care budgets.
Furthermore, the one piece of unobtrusive, mobile equipment can be re-utilised, re-issued to other people needing a short- medium term solution, thus optimising best value.
The step change is employment of an almost immediate solution to the barrier of steps and stairs- AAT’s S-Max stairclimber.
Class 1 Medical Device certified, the battery-powered unit smoothly kinetically moves up and down stairs, safely transferring the person from one level to another- and onward.
It can execute 300 steps from one battery charge.
The care giver controls the rate of movement, and we provide full training as part of the assessment and provision process.
Our stairclimber does not need installation. The staircase is free and unimpeded for use by the rest of the household.
This also helps minimise the psychological impact of the situation on all involved, and facilitates social interaction as movement around the home is maintained.
Inter-level transfer becomes safe and dignified, managing risk and reducing likelihood and incidence of falls.
It also means delivery of a safe means of overcoming the barrier of stairs can be achieved within days.
The S-Max removes the need to move a bed downstairs, with the associated disruption to all, and lack of privacy for the person.
He/she can safely be moved between all areas and levels of the home- and, importantly for their wellbeing, beyond into the garden and wider community.
When not in use, the S-Max can be folded away.
When the original recipient no longer needs the stairclimber, it can be returned to community stores, and re-issued to another person in need of support, thereby offering best value.
When coupled with AAT’s unique Universal Back, the S-Max can provide precise, tailored postural and musculoskeletal support for each user without the need to prescribe, purchase additional accessories, further expediating best value.
“It’s about a holistic approach, for everyone involved.
"It’s about giving a better end of life experience, better palliative care. Every small step that reduces the trauma should be considered. That numerous people can benefit quickly, from one piece of equipment, thus optimising best use of funds, is an added bonus.
“Our stairclimbers are proven to have an impeccable safety record, and, with thousands of units already in use by local authorities across the country, a trusted, safe, unintrusive option.”
Peter Wingrave, AAT Director
For a demonstration of the equipment, or free, no obligation review of a person’s suitability by one of AAT’s assessment managers, click the link: https://www.aatgb.com/mobility-stairclimbers/, email
sales@aatgb.com or telephone 01978 821875.
ENDS
(1)https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0675/
Emergency services are experiencing a significant increase in callouts- up between 10-20% in the past two years(1,2).
Additionally, new legislation on building safety and evacuation procedures comes into force in 2023, and now more than 20% of our population is disabled (3).
Whether residential or commercial premises, getting someone downstairs could be made more effective, reducing risk and improving safety to, and acccelerating the process for, the evacuee and emergency services personnel.
It could further ease pressure on personnel, enabling one crew to undertake the evacuation instead of two.
The solution is an AAT C-Max stairclimber.
Battery operated and kinematically powered, the machine enables even the slightest crew member to safely and smoothly transport an evacuee up to 230kg with reduced mobility.
The in-vehicle CEN-approved rear impact securing system enables the patient to remain in the stairclimber during the journey, minimising transfers.
The AAT C-Max enables the evacuation/transfer process to be executed by just one or two team members, depending on operational protocols.
Thus, even the largest obese person can be moved quickly and efficiently from the building to a place of safety/hospital without any additional transfers nor deployment of additional, multiple crews/ personnel.
Accessories including holding devices for oxygen tanks and a Universal Back to ensure every passenger can be supported and secured during the transfer process are available.
When not in use, the C-Max folds to stow compactly away, optimising space. It is already used by numerous ambulance and fire services across the UK. Its provision is supported by full training of personnel, plus nationwide service and maintenance.
“Ambulance call outs with 10.5m calls in the most recent 12-months – growth of 2m over 2 years(1). FRSs attended 577,053 incidents in the year ending March 2022, an 11% increase compared with the previous year(2).
"In these days when all our emergency services are under so much pressure, the business case for using equipment such as the C-Max, which improves operational safety and speed for everyone involved, is irrefutable."
Peter Wingrave, AAT Director
To demonstrate how the AAT C-Max works, and help potential customers understand the business case, AAT has produced a short video available on YouTube (https://youtu.be/Wt8MBNzbEZA ). Full details are also available on the website https://www.aatgb.com/c-max-u2.
ENDS
References:
(1) https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/01/record-number-of-nhs-ambulance-call-outs-for-life-threatening-conditions-in-december/
(3) https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9602/
