Photo by D. Dinneen, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
We have specialised in the design and supply of heavy-duty wallbeds since 1982 and actively pioneered the use of wall beds in Hospitals and Hospices, during the eighties and nineties, when unsuitable ‘domestic’ guest beds were typically used for accommodating overnight visitors.
Having identified an untapped market for our high performance space and cost saving wall beds to accommodate Hospital and Hospice visitors overnight and especially parents on Children’s Wards, we set about designing what are now our award winning ‘WISKAWAY‘® ‘Horizontal’ and ‘Vertical’ Hospital and Hospice Visitor Wallbeds, specifically for this application.
Space and Cost Saving, Compliant, Resilient, Practical and Comfortable: ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbeds are all fully compliant for Hospital and Hospice use and engineered to withstand daily, long-term, heavy-duty service, even by overweight users, come with a proper comfortable, wipe-clean/waterproof mattress, are counterbalanced and pivot-away effortlessly and fully made up (in literally seconds in an emergency), for regular nightly use.
Compact, Wipe-clean Housing: To keep the beds and mattresses out of the way and clean, when not in use, we designed a compact, wipe-clean, wall-fixed, integral housing into which the bed could be safely stowed away during the day, taking up just a quarter of its night time sleeping area and designed to fit close to, or right next to the patient’s Hospital bed.
Additional Benefits: In addition, we incorporated a host of other benefits for both visitors and Ward staff, including safety, comfort, ease-of-use, resilience and time and cost savings for the staff.
New benchmark: The result was the exact opposite of the non-compliant, inadequate, uncomfortable guest beds used hitherto and our new ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbeds literally revolutionised this market, introducing completely new standards and setting a new benchmark for the sector.
Launch customer: Already a wall bed customer of ours, the launch customer for our new ‘WISKAWAY’® Hospital Visitor Wallbed range, in the Summer of 1993, was Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, who ordered 16 single ‘Vertical‘ ‘WISKAWAY’® 7500H Parents’ Wallbeds, for their Paediatric Oncology Ward (C2), to replace the unsuitable, non-compliant visitor beds, used hitherto.
We supplied and installed these beds for them (see pictures below), complete with wipe-clean/waterproof mattresses. The curtain rails between the beds were also modified so that each child/parent space could be curtained off, when required.
Benefits for Visitors and Patients: The ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbed housings were compact enough to be fitted next to each child’s Hospital bed and within each curtained-off area, allowing parent and child to sleep right next to each other, in total comfort and privacy at night. Come morning, the counterbalanced ‘WISKAWAY’® Parents’ Wallbeds could be pivoted neatly and effortlessly away into their housings, in literally seconds, complete with all the bedding (including the pillows), ready for immediate use again later-on. Special wipe-clean bedding retaining straps held the mattress and all the bedding in place, when folded away.
Benefits for Ward Staff: The new wall beds eliminated the need for staff to trundle guest beds backwards and forwards and make then up/unmake them each evening/morning, with significant resulting time and cost savings, in addition to various manual handling benefits. The housekeeping staff could make up the Parents’ beds, between users and fold them away, freshly made up, ready for the next parent. There was also a marked reduction in the Ward laundry bills, as the parents’ bedding stayed on the beds and off the floor.
A very noticeable improvement in the tidiness/appearance of the Ward, during the day, was a further benefit for all concerned.
Still in Service after more than 32 Years: The 16 new ‘Vertical’ ‘WISKAWAY’® 7500H Parents’ Wallbeds literally revolutionised the overnight visitor facilities on Ward C2 at Addenbrookes and these very same beds are still in daily use in 2025 – after a full 32 years’ service!
Some years later, Ward C2 was completely gutted and refurbished. Because our ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbed housings are delivered fully assembled, (as a ‘box’, complete with the bed inside ready to be fixed to the wall behind), they can easily be unfixed and re-located. So we arranged to remove the 16 Ward C2 beds, put them into temporary local storage for the duration of the building works and return and re-fix and service them, together with 2 extra new beds, when the work was completed.
At the same time, Addenbrookes ordered more ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbeds for a number of their other newly refurbished Children’s Wards and have since ordered further wall beds for both their Children’s and for a few Adult Wards – (mainly ‘Vertical’ model 7500H, but also some ‘Horizontal’ 6000H).
In 2016 Ward F3 was completely refurbished, so we removed the parents wall beds, put them into temporary storage during the building works and re-fitted and serviced them together with some new beds, when the works were completed, just as we had done, some years previously for Ward C2.
In 2020, extra single rooms were added to Ward C3 and we installed a number of new, second generation ‘Vertical’ ‘WISKAWAY’® 7500H Parents’ Wallbeds. This was repeated for Ward C2 a year later -(see pictures below).
Addenbrookes now have nearly 80 ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbeds in daily use, which we have serviced periodically for them and for which we have provided spare parts and occasional repairs, when required.
Addenbrookes also use our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds.
The Addenbrookes ‘story’ is typical and shows how we don’t just supply our beds, but maintain close contact with and support our customers, every step of the way, with an after-sales service that is ‘second to none’ – all of which helps to prolong the already impressively long working lives of our Hospital Visitor Beds.
Unbeatable Track Record and Value for Money
In terms of value for money, competitive products cannot even begin to compare. In addition to far outlasting everything else on the market, the ease of operation of our Hospital Visitor Beds saves staff time and operating costs daily and, by enabling patients to have someone they know and trust stay with them, actually help speed up recovery and reduce inpatient stay times, thereby helping to achieve substantial further cost savings. A reduction of just one night’s inpatient stay in Hospital, can equate to a saving of hundreds of pounds, or more.
But the really massive cost savings are a result of the resilience and longevity in service of our Hospital Visitor Beds. Take the original 16 wall beds purchased in 1993 and still in use in 2025. Imagine the absolutely HUGE cost savings resulting from NOT having to replace these beds for over 30 years – NO disposal, making good, redecorating, re-ordering/installation costs, etc. This equates to a saving of tens of thousands of pounds just on these few beds, on this one ward, alone!
AN INVESTMENT – NOT AN EXPENSE
It’s clear to see that our award winning Hospital Visitor Beds pay for themselves many times over, during their impressively long service lives and are actually an INVESTMENT and NOT just an expense.
NEAT-A-WARD® Patient Wallbeds for next-door Rosie Hospital
In 2012 we installed a number of our ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Patient Wallbeds in the new Midwife-led extension of the next-door Rosie Maternity Hospital, which we have also serviced periodically for them.
