The Wright Way to Medical Care Breakthroughs
Howard Wright’s new M9 Ward and Compact beds are offering a raft of new features designed for easier patient care to health sectors in both New Zealand and Australia. Howard Wright’s research and development team has spent eight months developing the M9 bed. It has now been released for promotion and sale.
Like its predecessor, the M7 Ward bed, the M9 is aimed at Australian and New Zealand markets. Offering some exciting new features, it has been developed in conjunction with healthcare professionals with the aim of making human care easier.
Innovative bed
Howard Wright research and development manager Anthony Batley says one of the M9’s key differences is its low height, with a standard low height of 350mm for easier and safer patient entry and exit. An under-bed light also helps with the entry and exit process. The under-bed clearance of 140mm provides full access for patient lifters and bed movers The Wright way to medical care breakthroughs at any bed height. “It’s very low compared to other beds — it’s a class leader in the ward bed category,” Batley says.
The M9 has the option for either horizontal or vertical bar siderails. The horizontal bar siderail operation is gas assisted, making it easy to raise and lower. The simplicity of the design also makes it quicker and easier to clean. The M9 bed is available as either a ward or compact bed. It is straightforward and practical to use, minimising servicing and user training. The full electric functionality and sliding backrest to reduce patient handling. The bed deck has multiple sockets for accessories and storage for a handset, attendant control panel and power cord. The new backlit handset makes for easier location for both caregivers and patients. Next generation Tente “linea” 150mm dual wheel castors from Germany offer easier central locking braking. Batley says there is an integrated bed extension on the compact model for taller patients, who are often uncomfortable in standard-length hospital beds.
Howard Wright history
The Howard Wright Company’s origins date back to the 1950s, when motor mechanic Howard Wright started his own engineering business in a small workshop under his house in New Plymouth. Wright primarily made things out of wrought iron, such as balustrades, until he was asked by a nurse from the local hospital to make a modern hospital bed like ones they had seen in photographs from overseas.
Wright took on the project and it wasn’t long before he realised he could do a lot better by using the latest hydraulics. His hospital beds were sold throughout New Zealand and in the early 1960s he opened his first dedicated hospital bed factory. By the 1970s Howard Wright was making and selling most of the hospital beds used in New Zealand, but it was the innovative M4 bed in 1976 that was the international breakthrough. Wright came up with the idea of using remote hydraulic pumping at the foot of the bed to raise the bed surface, which was at the forefront in hospital bed design.
The M4 was followed by the equally innovative Pacific shower trolley, which was developed and exported all around the world. Today Howard Wright Limited is a multi-million dollar company and is a leading specialist in the design, manufacture and international distribution of medical beds and stretchers. The company supplies New Zealand ambulance services, private hospitals and a large number of the country’s 22 district health boards with beds and stretchers. Howard Wright exports about 65 percent of its product to Australia, Europe, North America and Asia. More than three-quarters of its international sales are to Australia, where the company supplies both the public and private sectors.
The past couple of years have seen the company win several significant supply contracts both within New Zealand and Australia for a range of its products, including Ward beds, intensive care beds and stretchers.
Reputation for excellence
Throughout its 50-year history, Howard Wright has retained its vision for innovative yet practical design, and extended it across a whole range of patient care surfaces using the latest electronic componentry. Every new product is developed by talking to and observing clinicians in hospitals and then converting their ideas, observations and insights into practical cost-effective designs.
Howard Wright Limited’s cornerstone philosophies are excellent design and service and today it enjoys a worldwide reputation with healthcare providers for its innovation and quality. The company’s highly skilled staff of 40 is focused on making patient care easier by providing quality patient handling equipment and support to the healthcare industry.
Leading healthcare products
In addition to the new M9 Ward bed, Howard Wright has developed a range of industry leading products in recent years, including the M8 intensive care bed, which won international design awards. The Howard Wright Company believes its M8 bed is unique in the world, taking more than three years of research and development with 10 prototypes. A major issue in the intensive care unit is having to move patients onto specialist tables in order to perform certain X-ray imaging procedures — this leads to manual handling issues for the medical professionals , while introducing discomfort for the patient while they are being moved around. The M8 bed allows for a wide range of procedures to be performed on the bed without the need to transfer the patient. It is suitable for chest X-ray, general X-ray and C-arm image intensifier procedures. Image intensifier work is real-time X-ray, so if the doctor or radiologist needs to insert a needle or line they can see it on screen while the patient remains in the bed. To complement its own leading healthcare products, including the M7 stretcher, Howard Wright imports a range of high-quality medical beds and stretchers from Stryker. Howard Wright is the Australasian distributor of Stryker products and has been awarded significant contracts in supplying Stryker medical beds, stretchers and EMS equipment in both New Zealand and Australia.
