Labels: hospital, medical, nhs, scale

NHS patients are being put in danger because some hospitals are weighing patients on household scales purchased from the high street, a recent investigation by LACORS has revealed.

Labels: hospital, medical, nhs, scales, weighing

Medical scales are frequently used to weigh patients in hospitals, orthopaedic, rehabilitation, dialysis and many other healthcare departments. Often used by medical professionals, medical scales are used to analyse and evaluate medical symptoms of patients, due to the scales superior of accuracy.

Whilst using medical scales it's important that simple steps are followed to ensure that the weighing equipment provides the most accurate measurement and that no obstructions prevent inaccurate readings.

Medical Weighing Scales : Correct Preparation

1. Check the medical scales are correctly calibrated - prior to use.
2. Make certain that the weighing platform doesn't rest on a wall, book or any fixed objects.
3. Be sure that the medical scales are set to zero prior to placing anything onto them.
4. Whenever using a weighing pan check that it is not included in the measurement by pressing the 'zero' key, when the pan is on top of the weighing scales.
5. If the patient is clothed, remember this will affect the final weight outcome.
6. Make sure that the patients feet don't touch on the floor or their arms are not leaning against any fixtures.
7. If monitoring on a regular basis make sure the patient wears similar clothing at each weighing session.
8. Do not weigh babies or small children on medical scales designed specifically for adult use.

Medical Weighing Scales: Popular Uses

• Baby Scales - Designed for both safety and performance. Class III approved baby scales are extremely accurate for measuring mothers breast milk and the weight of babies. Baby scales are practical for monitoring a babies rate of growth on a regular basis and are frequently utilised in hospitals, doctor surgeries, and homes - wherever parents wish to on a regular basis weigh their newborn baby or infant.

• Wheelchair scales - Often used in hospital wards, orthopaedic departments, rehabilitation, dialysis centres or at nursing homes where patients are immobilised or confined in a wheelchair. These scales are designed to make weight supervision comfier for the wheelchair user and provide the health care professional with a less complicated method of measuring accurate results.

To maintain the accuracy and reliability of all medical scales, it's important that they're calibrated on a regular basis by an approved scale calibration specialist.

Labels: baby, hospital, medical, scales, wheelchair

The Department of Health has issued a recent warning to highlight potential dangers of weighing patients and medication on incorrectly calibrated scales.

Following an audit of several NHS organisations by LACORS, (The Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services). Say that many hospitals were using incorrectly calibrated weighing scales for weighing patients or medication. Hospital staff were also observed using inappropriate weighing scales, unsuitable for medical applications.

As a result of these findings, NHS organisations are being warned to ensure that patient weighing scales are regularly maintained and calibrated, and that they have a procedure in place to check the accuracy of their weighing equipment.

The following two types of weighing scales are used in hospitals and NHS organisations:

• Class III – accurate scales used for weighing medication, babies and monitoring purposes.

• Class IIII – less accurate, domestic type scales. Should only be used for checking a patient’s weight in a GP consulting room.

Important points to remember:

• Class IIII scales are NOT recommended for weighing medication, treatment, diagnosis or monitoring and should be replaced with more accurate Class III type scales.

• Weighing equipment that provides incorrect readings should be removed from use and re-calibrated.

Labels: hospital, medical, nhs, patient, scales