Vernacare launches high-tech porter’s chair
ONE of the UK’s leading healthcare manufacturers has given the humble porter’s chair a modern makeover.
Bolton-based Vernacare has developed the ultra-hygienic chair as part of the national ‘design bugs out’ competition launched by the Design Council and Department of Health to fight infection in the NHS.
The company is now planning to show the prototype chair to a number of hospitals and hopes to begin manufacturing later this in time for delivery in 2010.
The chair is made of durable polypropylene and is moulded in three parts that come apart easily for cleaning.
Jane Kent, new product development manager for Vernacare, says: “Our new chair is light years away from existing models, which have seen very little design development for 30 to 40 years.
“Because porters’ chairs can carry infection into the healthcare environment from the outside world they present a health risk and we felt it was high time that this traditional product was given a total revamp – with infection prevention as well as comfort and functionality in mind. The surfaces of the chair are smooth and easy to clean and any joins are carefully located to reduce the risk of trapping harmful bacteria.”
The chair is the latest in a series of innovations by Vernacare. In 2007 it developed a groundbreaking patented process of using recycled newspaper to create the world’s first leak-proof washbowl – capable of holding both warm water and detergent.
