Dressing Loop

The Problem

The innovation came from a team of occupational therapists from University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.  Previously at the Trust, if there was any question about a patient’s ability to carry out tasks such as dressing themselves, a pre-discharge assessment by an occupational therapist was required, which takes around two hours and is carried out in a specialist assessment area.  There is a high demand on the OTs’ time, meaning that there was often a booking interval of several days before the assessment could actually take place. OTs used to have to watch as patients dressed and washed themselves to assess whether they would need extra help or disability equipment when they went home.

The Solution

The dressing loop facilitates a quick initial assessment of the patient, speeding up the safe discharge or particular patients who are mobile and self-caring but whom the ward and/or medical staff feel require specialist assessment.  It comprises of a metre long adjustable stretch of elastic contained within a screw-top jar.  If the patient can open the jar and reach down to pull the loop over their feet, up their body and over their head they have the range of movement needed to get washed, undressed and dressed.  The device creates greater efficiency by freeing up beds more quickly and saving OTs’ time.  It is also a boost for patients’ privacy and dignity because they no longer have to undress, dress and wash themselves to demonstrate how well they could cope after leaving hospital.  Around one fifth of patients who are referred for an OT assessment can benefit from using the dressing loop.

How MidTECH has helped

Having been successfully implemented at University Hospital Birmingham, the dressing loop won an award in MidTECH’s 2006 innovation competition.  The hub identified a company, Nottingham Rehab Supplies Ltd (NRS), of Ashby de la Zouch, who wanted to license the device.  MidTECH put together the agreement and negotiated on the Trust’s behalf to license the loop and assessment screen to NRS. The jar lid will house a CD containing instructions and the relevant assessment screen forms and the product is due to go on sale in early 2008.