Innova Care Concepts Evolves the World’s Most Innovative Bariatric Care Bed to Enhance Patient Care for Medical Professionals
15 June 2023 – Leading healthcare technology company Innova Care Concepts today announced a key evolution to its Interlude 500 ultra-low bariatric care bed, which will now incorporate the VersaDrive, a unique motorised assist system designed to help caregivers move patients more easily.
Integrated at the footboard of the bed, the VersaDrive is an advanced motorised wheel that uses sensors to detect the bed’s intended direction of movement. Using intuitive automation, the VersaDrive automatically adjusts the bed in the right direction to reduce strain and enable professionals to be in constant visual contact with the patient.
This unique evolution adds further functionality to the Interlude 500, which remains unrivalled as the only bariatric care bed with a safe working load of 500kg while remaining just 21 centimetres from the ground, enhancing fall-prevention protection. Manufactured by Canadian technology company, Rotec International, and distributed as the Interlude 500 by Innova, the bariatric bed was originally launched in the UK in 2021.
“Bariatric care is a space which requires constant evolution not only to meet the specific needs of patients but the medical professionals who care for them in clinical environments,” said Innova Care Concepts Managing Director Tom Hulbert.
“We recognise the crucial need for flexibility when moving patients, often in ward environments with limited space. The VersaDrive technology we are adding to the Interlude 500 enables a far greater freedom of movement and increases the ability to take swift, unchallenged action in the event a patient requires an urgent intervention. This will be particularly useful to nurses and other care professionals who are constantly time-poor and often need to make fast, effective decisions to promote patient wellbeing.”
Speaking about the launch of the VersaDrive, President and CEO of Rotec International, Miguel Valero, said: “It is a pleasure to work with professionals like Innova Care Concepts in the UK. We find their dynamism and competencies important and are confident our bed has a great future in this market.”
The obesity crisis remains one of the most pressing health challenges in the UK and across Europe. Recent research revealed that obesity was a factor in over one million hospital admissions in 2019-20201. The care and supervision of obese individuals once within hospital environments brings unique complications and challenges by comparison to patients who are not considered overweight. Further, recent analyses predict that over a third of UK patients will be considered obese by 2025.
Beyond its weight-bearing and low patient positioning attributes, the Interlude 500 bed offers a range of unique and sector-leading features designed to assist and support care professionals better manage the needs of patients. These include the ability to rapidly enter and exit the bed itself, a bed exit detection system, expandability to accommodate different sizes of mattress and importantly in the post-COVID environment, is constructed using a simple-to-clean antibacterial steel structure to aid infection prevention.
The United Kingdom compares poorly to other high-income countries with one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe. In England, the greatest rates of obesity are seen in more deprived parts of the country, with evidence suggesting the gap between obese and non-obese patients has grown substantially over the past five years. The reasons for the continued increase in obesity are multifactorial and beyond socio-economic factors are believed to include personal behaviours, individual’s physical environment and limitations in strategies to prevent and tackle public health inequalities.1
- The King’s Fund, July 2021: Tackling Obesity: The Role of the NHS in a Whole System Approach. Available at: Tackling obesity: the role of the NHS in a whole-system approach (kingsfund.org.uk)
