Moving and Handling Equipment | Action for Carers

Equipment to help the person you care for move about

There’s a range of equipment and aids that can help you to help the person you care for move about. Our Moving and Handling Advisers can give you information about these and what’s most relevant to your situation. They can also access some of the smaller aids to help you.

Bringing in the right equipment can make the person you are caring for more independent, and reduce the moving and handling load on you. The aids can also reduce the strain you are under by removing friction or the amount you have to bend down so again lowering the moving and handling risk to your own health.

Below is a list of some of the equipment our Moving and Handling Advisers use as part of our work with carers in Surrey. Take a look and see what might make moving the person you care for easier. You’ll find a description of each of the items, an image, and where these are available from.

Leg lifters

Leg lifter sling for one or two feet to help with lifting legs into bed, into the car, or on to a foot stool, for example. This can be used by the carer or by the person themselves.

Hospital Direct Leg Lifter 1 or 2 feet

Leg lifter (alternative type) for one foot: This can be used by the carer or by the person themselves.

Essential Aids Leg Lifter 1 leg

Slide gloves

Our Moving and Handling Advisers use these a lot in a range of moving and handling scenarios.

A manual handling glide glove allows placement of hands between user and mattress or cushion, and you can also re-position and smooth out bed sheets. The Multiglide Repositioning Gloves are an effective low-friction aid you can use for simple movements, for example adjusting the person when they are in a lying or seated position, or moving them higher up in the bed, or when checking pressure-relieving side pillows and mattresses.

Multiglide Repositioning Gloves can be used by carers in many different moving and positioning situations. It makes placing your hands between the person and the mattress or cushion easier. You can use them to make small adjustments and movements while the person you care for is in bed, in particular smoothing out the bed sheets after repositioning.

Nordiccare gloves

Rope ladders

Rope ladders help with sitting up in bed and other bed manoeuvres.

The Webbing Bed Ladder is ideal for maintaining independence and offers support during rehabilitation, enabling people to sit up and lie down in bed without assistance from a carer.

Hospital Direct bed rope ladder

Rotary swivel cushions

Our Advisers will often trial one of these to see if they assist with making transfers on / off a dining chair (without arms) easier. It allows for the person to turn outwards away from the table and saves the dining chair from being pulled in and out, which can be quite a strenuous task for the carer.

Please note, these are often trialled on car seats too. However, due to the shape of the majority of modern car seats, these are not very effective in improving car seat transfers. There are car seat specific cushions which have a more effective design which can be much more successful. If you would like information on these, please contact our Moving and Handling service for an assessment, as we have them available to trial.

These rotary swivel cushions are most effective on a flat surface.

Careco swivel cushion

The Millie Mova Chair Aid

If dining chair transfers continue to be difficult, an alternative might be the Millie-Mova Chair Aid, which was was featured on TV programme Dragon’s Den.

This innovative product has been created and designed with both the user and carer in mind. The Millie-Mova Chair Aid is easily fitted to most chairs to aid the carer when moving the chair either in to a desk, dinner table or just to another area of the room.

It eliminates the risk of injury for the carer and an increase of dignity and safety for the user. As well as helping the user and carer, it prolongs the chair’s life, makes it more stable and protects the floor from damage.

Complete care Millie Mova Chair Aid

Car transfers

The Handybar Car Transfer Handle offers extra assistance and leverage to get in and out of a vehicle unaided. The Handybar easily clamps into the U shaped plate on a car door frame.

Manage at Home car transfer handle

An easy- or ready-reacher

The ready-reacher is a useful tool for picking all kinds of objects up from the floor without the need to stoop or kneel.

Long metal stick with handle on one end and grabber on the other end

Complete care shop garden litter picker

Finding out more about equipment

Surrey County Council

Depending on your situation, you may qualify for support from the council instead of buying products yourself. Find out more about Adult social care assessments and eligibility.

If you would like to look into a wider range of equipment that is available, and see what you might buy yourself, Surrey has its own Home Equipment Finder tool. The equipment ranges from activity of daily living items for every room at home through to sensors and alarms.

SCC Equipment Finder

Second-hand equipment

If you would like to look in to getting equipment second-hand, the Disability Equipment Service may be able to help you. It is a national website dedicated to the buying and selling of new and used disability equipment.

Disability Equipment Service

Wheelchairs

Some people are eligible for assessment and provision of a wheelchair via the NHS. There’s guidance on eligibility here and find out more about the Surrey Wheelchair Service here.

If you are not eligible there are a few other options for you. You can either purchase one yourself either online or from a local stockist. Alternatively, you could hire one.

We would advise that where possible, you try one first in person to ensure it fits correctly and is easy for you to manage. Which have put together a buying guide here:

Surrey stockists of wheelchairs and other equipment

Here are a some of the stockists we have within and close to Surrey (some do just sales and others do hire too):

Shop Mobility

There are also Shop Mobility schemes around Surrey where you can park up and hire a wheelchair or scooter for the day:

Alternatively, the Red Cross still have some select locations which loan wheelchairs. They have a search tool on their website so you can see if there is a service / stockist near you

Any questions or queries please get in touch with the ACS Moving and Handling service.