North West and North Wales Back Exchange Conference

ONE DAY CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY THE NORTH WEST AND NORTH WALES BACK EXCHANGE IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE WORKING WELL TOGETHER GROUP AND NORTH WEST WALES HEALTH AND SAFETY GROUP.

The above conference took place on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, at Bangor University in Gwynedd.  It was extremely well attended and very well organised.

After the initial introductory speech by Ellen Beard, Chair of the North West and North Wales Back Exchange Group, the conference began.  The first presentation was by Lisa Fowlie, Health and Safety Adviser for Bangor University, and was entitled "Setting The Scene".

This was followed by a very good presentation from Dr Iain Lea, a qualified chiropractor and Director of North Wales Spine Clinic.  He presented considerable evidence regarding musculo skeletal injuries citing that 80% of back injuries are disc related with 20% being related to the sacro iliac joint.  There were lots of useful tips on managing back injuries including getting the right treatment as quickly as possible and not relying on pain killing medication which can often lead to chronic back problems.  He talked about core muscle stability and strength being essential in preventing back problems and also helping in recovery.  He also talked about the "10,000 paces a day rule" being a good guide as to general health and prevention of major life style illnesses such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease and urged everyone to go out and buy a pedometer!

Matthew Birtles, Senior Ergonomist, Health and Safety Laboratory, finished the morning presentations by giving an excellent talk about ergonomics in the work place stating that most cumulative back problems happen at work as that is the time when we are more likely to do the same task over and over again whereas at home we tend to carry out different tasks and therefore adopt different postures.  He explained that variation in posture is actually more important than necessarily having everything at just the right height and position as in sitting at a desk and working on a computer i.e. "The best posture is the next posture".  He also highlighted the importance of keeping joints in the neutral position as much as possible as employing forces when the joint is out of neutral is when injuries occur.

The afternoon sessions that I attended were also very good.   Julia Love, Chair of the National Back Exchange, gave a presentation on "Accidents with Hoists" and the common mistakes that staff make e.g. putting the brakes on a mobile hoist when fully hoisting someone, not having the correct sling, attaching the wrong loops to the hoist and having the client attached to the hoist in a lopsided manner.

The final presentation which I attended in the afternoon was a presentation from Sheenagh Orchard, a registered nurse and Moving and Handling Specialist.  She has done a considerable amount of work on single carer handling, a topic on which I have written another blog. 

There was another workshop in the afternoon entitled "The Heavier Person and People with Challenging Behaviour" presented by Hakan Skenhede, Sonja Conway and Mark Ripley.  Although I was unable to attend this work shop, I understand that it was well presented and offered useful information.

A number of companies attended with moving and handling equipment and lunch was provided.  The overall feedback from the attendees was very favourable.  Here's to the next one!!

Helen Sheard, Consultant Occupational Therapist

Single Carer Handling

I recently attended a presentation by Sheenagh Orchard, a registered nurse and Moving and Handling Specialist at a conference organised North West and North Wales Back Exchange.  Sheenagh has done a considerable amount of work on single carer handling which has involved training staff and working with carers and managers to change the culture away from utilising two staff as being the default position for some manual handling techniques such as hoisting. 

She stated that she aimed to reduce the care packages to one carer packages by 45% with most authorities she has worked with and has managed that in a number of areas.  The provision of specific equipment is vital to ensure that one carer packages are realistic and workable, e.g. ceiling track hoist systems, gantry hoists, in bed re-positioning systems like the Phil-eSlide etc. 

Sheenagh does acknowledge that one carer handling is not always possible and that in almost all situations where a mobile hoist has to be used two carers will likely be needed.  The assessment is all important in determining where single carer handling is possible and appropriate.  This is something that we at Personal Care Consultants wholeheartedly agree with.  We feel that one carer support is likely to become more common in the future as staff resources become increasingly stretched and the elderly population increases.

Helen Sheard, Consultant Occupational Therapist