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Design Bugs Out: Bedside Cabinet

Fewer hard-to-reach corners and surfaces make this bedside cabinet easier to clean and more accessible for patients.

The challenge

The typical NHS bedside cabinet – which looks and operates like an adapted piece of domestic furniture – has been left behind in design terms, especially when compared with the sophisticated developments that have taken place with hospital beds.

The current design has many sharp edges, crevices and joins that make cleaning difficult and can harbour germs. It also lacks the flexibility demanded in the modern healthcare environment.

Patients find that current designs, many with deep drawers, are hard to access from the bed, with less mobile patients often having to ask for assistance when accessing their belongings, so placing additional pressures on nursing staff.

The challenge, therefore, was to bring the traditional bedside cabinet into the 21st century, making it fit for purpose in a modern healthcare setting where cleanliness and usability are paramount.

Design solution

The design team carried out extensive user research with patients, medical staff, cleaners, matrons and pharmacists, as well as reviewing future infection control policy with senior medical staff. Focusing specifically on infection control and the needs of the patient, the team deconstructed the current bedside locker to identify key features to be included in any new product.

Kinneir Dufort’s partner, Bristol Maid, a UK based manufacturer and supplier of the ‘Bristol Maid TM’ range of medical furniture and equipment, has been one of the NHS’s main suppliers for over 55 years. As a manufacturer of the traditional bedside cabinet, they agreed that the existing model was ‘in need of a radical review and required some design attention’.

Results

Kinneir Dufort’s backless cabinet eliminates hard-to-clean areas by utilising a continuous moulded form, with smooth surfaces and no joints, junctions or sharp corners to harbour germs. Patient storage is provided by two upper shelves which are easily accessible from the bed, two drawers, a lower open storage area and clothes hooks positioned on the rear of the unit. The ‘reversible’ cabinet design feature is an elegant solution which allows the unit to be used on either side of the bed by simply removing the drawers and slotting them into place through the other side. Both drawers can be fitted with concealed RFID-controlled electronic locks for secure storage of the patient’s possessions.

Design concept

• Symmetrical design that can be used on either side of the bed

• ‘Backless’ design, reducing the number of surfaces to clean

• Removable and reversible drawers which are easy to clean

• Two patient-facing shelves with edge lips to retain objects and help contain spillages

• Drawers with cutaway sides that can be accessed without getting out of bed

• Clear, visible touchpoints, including upturned handles, removing hiding-places for infection

• Ability to attach accessories such as alcohol gel, glove box and waste sack holders

• Bright, clinical appearance.

• Easy clean twin-wheel braking castors

Technical innovations

• Rotationally moulded construction, with no joints, junctions or sharp corners to harbour germs

• Made of tough, hardwearing high-density polyethylene with smooth and easy-to-wipe surface texture

• Non-contact electronic RFID locks

• Easy clean twin-wheel braking castors.

Design: Kinneir Dufort

Manufacture: Bristol Maid

You can see a video of the design process of the Bedside Cabinet here

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