Ashgate Hospice: Lento Mobile Case Study

We have had the pleasure of working with a wide range of hospices and care homes over the years, and we were recently thrilled to be able to help the lovely team of carers and people living at Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield, with a fleet of 12 new Lento Mobile chairs.

Ashgate is an established hospice and charitable organisation, who are dedicated to supporting those with life-limiting illnesses, their families and carers, and those grieving the death of a loved one.  They have an in-patient unit and day hospice set amongst the rolling hills and leafy copses of Derbyshire, and also support people in the surrounding communities.

To visit Ashgate Hospice is to meet some of the most dedicated healthcare professionals and volunteers that the UK has to offer – the team of carers have a real depth of feeling for those they are looking after, which shows in their warm smiles, fond stories, and also tears as they tell you about the many people they care for.  That is why we were so glad to be able to support them in any way we could.

The Challenge

Ashgate Hospice has been going through a series of facility improvement projects over the last couple of years, to enhance the environment and level of care offered to patients staying and living with them.  Despite it being a functioning healthcare environment with top quality assistive equipment and furniture, they wanted the look and feel of the place to become more homely, with softer colours and new décor, re-developed recreational areas and activities, and improved care furniture where required.

The hospice faced a critical issue with their outdated rise recline chairs, which were tired and cumbersome to use after 10+ years in their in-patient unit. They lacked adjustability and mobility options, which made transporting patients between rooms very difficult, as well as adapting them to suit the individual needs of each different user.  This was putting patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers, and also spinal complications from poor posture.

The hospice urgently needed a solution that could enhance patient comfort, improve postural support, and adapt to the diverse needs of their residents.

The Solution

To address the challenges faced by Ashgate Hospice, our in-house specialist seating experts introduced the Lento Mobile chairs, which are the world’s first portable rise recliner and care chair hybrids.

These highly adjustable chairs with an ergonomic push handle offer easy manoeuvrability on smooth gliding braked castors, and are completely adaptable to suit patients of different sizes and shapes with a large array of cushion options, wedges, backrests and more.  All of the seat dimensions can be changed according to the user’s requirements, making it the perfect solution for individualistic patient care as well as easier care-giving.

Following a series of initial demonstrations and discussions to the team, followed by a trial period which was very successful, the hospice went ahead and purchased 12 new Lento Mobile chairs.  

Ashgate Hospice chose to go with a mix of cushions within their new fleet, to enable more strategic pressure care: half of the chairs they purchased had honeycomb cool gel cushions built into the seats for people at higher risk of developing pressure ulcers.  The other half had standard Visco foam, a soft and comfortable option which is suitable for effective pressure relief amongst most low to medium risk patients.

The fact that the Lento Mobile chairs are designed to move between rooms and through standard width doors, also meant that carers within the Ashgate in-patient unit would now be able to transport less mobile patients outside when the weather was warm enough, and to their re-designed recreational areas and event spaces.  People who were previously not able to leave their rooms, could now enjoy Ashgate’s musical events, weddings, and pet stroking, all of which would dramatically improve their quality of life.

Other new features to Ashgate of the Lento Mobile chairs included:

• Supportive and comfort-enhancing movement functions: locking tilt-in-space, rise recline, independent back angle movement, and vertical rise to make getting in and out of the chairs easier.
• Infection control friendly design: despite looking homely and inviting, all of the cushion and frame materials can be accessed and wiped vigorously each day, an important feature for equipment going into a multi-user healthcare environment.  The cushion covers can even be removed and machine washed!
• Durable and safe: as with the full Lento range, these chairs are built in the UK on a solid steel frame and with long-lasting materials for maximum durability.
• Colour Options: the Lento chairs all come with a wide variety of beautiful material colour options, meaning that Ashgate could stay on brand and keep their chairs looking homely.

The Result

Following the delivery of our 12 new personalised Lento Mobile chairs to Ashgate Hospice, the impact on the lives of the patients and carers alike has been transformative.  The healthcare manager of the in-patient unit said:

“With our fantastic new adjustable chairs, we can now offer more individualised care by being able to position each different user to suit their own postural needs.  This is on top of the in-built pressure care too.  On top of this, the portability of the Lento Mobile chairs means we can easily move between rooms, go through doors, and take patients outside during summer.  The whole team absolutely love our new chairs, we are all so pleased with them.”

“Steve at Vivid Care was also so understanding throughout the trial process, and never put us under any unnecessary pressure to buy.  We did look at other options, as we wanted to make sure we were investing in the right equipment for our patients, but the Lento Mobiles were the best choice for us at the end of the process.  It was quite a few months before we actually made a decision, but Steve was patient and helpful through it all”.