Frequently Asked Questions

Unlike most other UK guest bed and wall bed suppliers, who simply import products designed for domestic use in their countries of origin, or supply really basic, cheap, locally manufactured products, which are totally unsuitable for use in Hospitals and Hospices, Hospital Visitor Beds have over 40 years’ experience of designing and supplying high performance, heavy-duty, space and cost saving Visitor beds, specifically to provide rest facilities/overnight accommodation, in healthcare applications, where space is at a premium.

We are the acknowledged, award winning, leading specialists in this field, all our products comply with current Health & Safety, Manual Handling, Infection Control and Flame Retardancy requirements and are designed to give years of trouble-free service, even in the most gruelling of situations. Our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds are in a class of their own and we pioneered the use of heavy-duty ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbeds and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Patient Wallbeds in Hospitals and Hospices in the UK.

Our space and cost saving Visitor beds for Hospitals and Hospices are additionally supported by a FREE in-house expert advisory service to help you select the right product for the job, a FULL 10 YEAR BEDFRAME GUARANTEE and a comprehensive after-sales service, to ensure that your Visitor beds continue to perform, at their best, year-after-year and you get maximum value for money.

YES. There is nothing temporary, or makeshift about our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds and ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds. They are designed to withstand years of regular, heavy-duty use and will sleep even overweight adults (up to 200Kg for single beds and up to 400Kg for doubles), for extended periods, in total comfort. Our customers include major General Hospitals, dedicated Children’s Hospitals and Hospices, throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

The secret is the heavy-duty, hand-welded, powder-coated, tubular-steel construction of our ‘GLIDEAWAY’’® Visitor Guestbed and ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds, combined with a unique, pre-tensioned, woven steel mesh base, which is guaranteed never to sag, or unravel (no breakable wooden slats). All our bedframes are GUARANTEED FOR A FULL 10 YEARS against defective materials and workmanship and will give many more years of trouble-free service.

YES. Strong, yet lightweight, tubular steel construction, automatically opening and retracting legs and the absence of sharp edges on our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbed, and ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Visitor Wallbed ranges and full counterbalancing on our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds make for safe, smooth and effortless operation. In addition, all our space and cost savers are supplied complete with permanently-fixed, prominently displayed, wipe-clean, laminated, step-by-step, safety/operating instructions.

YES. All Hospital Visitor Beds’ products comply fully with current Infection Control, Health & Safety, Manual Handling and Flame Retardancy requirements. The heavy-duty, powder-coated, all-steel bedframes of our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds and ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’®  Wallbeds and our wipe-clean/waterproof mattresses and bedding retaining straps can all be cleaned and disinfected just like ordinary Hospital beds and mattresses, using the same cleaning agents. Our MFC and Plastic Laminate bed housings and optional matching furniture can also be wiped clean. Our Visitor beds are easy to handle and use and our mattresses are flame retardant.

Our Hospital and Hospice Visitor Beds Pay For Themselves By Saving Money In 4 Ways

• By accommodating visitors on the Ward, there is no need for separate rooms.
• Ease of handling leads to lower staff workload and reduced operating costs.
• Reduced stress all round results in faster patient recovery, shorter inpatient stays and significant cost savings.
• Ultra-long service lives maximise value for money and can result in very substantial cost savings.

YES. Hospital Visitor Beds are able to offer a full, nationwide after-sales service on their Visitor Guestbeds and Wallbeds and will additionally be pleased to quote for periodic maintenance/servicing visits. We can also quote for installing, or re-locating our Visitor Wallbeds – (see also our Addenbrookes and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Case Studies).  Our bedframes are GUARANTEED FOR A FULL 10 YEARS against defective materials and workmanship but will last much longer.

YES. Hospital Visitor Beds will be pleased to quote for the supply, placing and installation of their Visitor Wallbeds and matching furniture. Our skilled fitters have extensive experience of working in different situations including, for instance, on live Hospital Wards as well as on construction sites. We can also quote for re-locating our Visitor Wallbeds.

Our world class, heavy-duty, ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds are single and double steel bedframes, which are designed to be fixed permanently** in place and pivot away, effortlessly, flat against the wall, either on end (‘Vertical’ Wallbeds), or sideways (‘Horizontal’ Wallbeds).

Because the bedframes don’t have to fold in any way they can be used with proper mattresses, so ‘WISKAWAY’® Visitor Wallbeds and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Patient Wallbeds offer all the comfort and convenience of good quality firm-based divan beds, but are far tougher and can be stowed away fully made-up, when not required, freeing-up space, during the day and eliminating the need to make-up/un-make the bed each evening/morning. All ‘WISKAWAY’’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wall Beds come with the following features:

• They will take a proper (wipe-clean) interior sprung, or foam mattress and standard bedding.
• They pivot away fully made up, for REGULAR NIGHTLY USE.
• They are safe and easy to handle, counterbalanced, fitted with automatically opening and retracting legs and back rests and can be ready to use in seconds.
• They have strong hand-welded tubular steel frames with firm, non-sag, woven steel mesh bases and a tough, wipe-clean powder-coated finish in a choice of 10 bedframe colours.
• They will comfortably cope with loadings of up to 200Kg on single models and up to 400Kg on doubles.
• They are supplied complete with (wipe-clean) flexible, hook-on bedding retaining straps, to hold all the bedding – (including the pillows) – in place, when folded away.
• They will give years of trouble-free service and our bedframes are GUARANTEED FOR A FULL 10 YEARS against defective materials and workmanship, but will last far longer.
• They come with simple, permanently displayed, step-by-step, laminated safety/operating instructions.

**(but they can easily be unfixed and moved, if required)

Our high performance, heavy-duty ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds are all-steel single beds, which can be folded in half when not in use and moved effortlessly, from one location to another, on hospital wheels. They share many features with our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds, including the same heavy-duty, hand-welded, tubular steel construction, tough powder-coated finish, non-sag woven-steel mesh base and FULL 10 YEAR BEDFRAME GUARANTEE. They are safe and easy to handle, will cope with loadings of up to 200Kg (singles) and 400Kg (doubles) and come complete with permanently displayed wipe-clean safety/operating instructions.

EXTREMELY. A firm, non-sag, woven-steel mesh base ensures proper anatomical support, similar to continental-style slatted beds, but many times stronger – (no wooden slats, or ‘foundations’ to break). The ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbed comes complete with a foldable, lightweight, high-specification, wipe-clean/waterproof, medium-firm foam mattress. To complement our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds, we offer a choice of high specification, medium-firm, interior sprung, or foam mattresses, with wipe-clean/waterproof covers (All our mattresses are flame retardant to Ignition Source 5. One model is flame retardant Ignition Source 7).

Our space and cost saving beds are, in fact, so comfortable that we are regularly contacted by people who have used them in Hospital, or in a Hospice and want to buy one for their own use at home.

VERY. Our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds are equipped with automatically opening and retracting legs -(just open the bed out and it’s ready to use)- and hospital wheels (two with brakes), to make them really easy to move from one location to another. Make them up and use them, whenever and wherever required.

For ease of operation, our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds also feature automatic leg and back rest action and are additionally counterbalanced, by means of heavy-duty pneumatic cylinders, or steel springs – (depending on the model). This makes operating the beds effortless. Since ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds can be stowed away fully made up, they can be ‘down’ and ready to use in literally seconds and can be folded-away again in seconds too – (in an emergency, for instance).

Our unique wipe-clean, flexible bedding retaining straps, supplied with the beds, attach permanently to one end, or side and are simply hooked across, before the bed is folded away, to hold the mattress and all the bedding, (including the pillows), in place. Nothing could be simpler!

As they will be used by lots of different people, all our Visitor beds are supplied complete with permanently attached and prominently displayed laminated, step-by-step safety/operating, instructions.

NO. Our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbed can be used with standard bedding (but cannot be left made-up, when folded – although our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® XH does incorporate a handy bedding tray). Our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds are designed to be used and folded away, fully made up, complete with a standard sized spring interior, or foam mattress and either ordinary sheets and blankets, or fitted sheets and duvets.

Our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds come in several single and double sizes, (please see product page for details), whilst our ‘WISKAWAY’®’ Visitor Wallbeds come in ‘Horizontal’ (6000H) – sideways folding, or ‘Vertical’ (7500H and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’®) versions, in a choice of standard single and double and also in made-to-measure sizes, (please see product pages for details).

Our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds and ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds all come finished in a choice of 10 standard, tough, wipe-clean, powder-coated bedframe colours (see product page for details).

Our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds come in the same choice of 10 bedframe colours, with housings and optional matching furniture in a wide choice of wipe-clean finishes, ranging from plain and wood effect MFC and Plastic Laminates.

In addition to a choice of standard finishes, special finishes can be supplied (e.g. to match the decor of the rooms/other furniture).

Our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Visitor Guestbeds come in single and double sizes and cannot be folded away made-up, but have the advantage that they can be folded in half when not in use and moved easily, on Hospital wheels, from one location to another, or into storage. A fitted sheet can be left on the ‘GLIDEAWAY’®, when it is folded up: the rest of the bedding has to be stored elsewhere, except on the ‘GLIDEAWAY’® XH model, which has a handy integral bedding tray.

Our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds are available in a range of double and made-to-measure, as well as single sizes and provide the ultimate solution in terms of safety, durability, comfort, convenience and space-efficiency, to providing rest/overnight facilities, in healthcare situations, where space is at a premium, or where the room in question needs to have a second daytime function.

This is because they are counterbalanced and can be folded away effortlessly, in just seconds, complete with all the bedding, (including the pillows), for regular nightly use. This eliminates the need for staff to trundle temporary beds to and fro and make them up/unmake them each evening/morning and leads to various Health & Safety and Manual Handling benefits, as well as to substantial cost savings over time – (including significantly reduced laundry bills (as the bedding stays on the bed and off the floor).

A marked improvement in the appearance and spaciousness of the wards/bays/cubicles in which our ‘WISKAWAY’® and ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Wallbeds are used, is a further bonus, with obvious advantages for the patients, relatives, nursing/medical and even the cleaning staff.

As our ‘WISKAWAY’®’ 6000H and 7500H Visitor Wallbeds are designed to be fixed against a ‘clean’ (unencumbered) wall, they do not always fit into existing situations and are therefore more frequently specified for ward refurbishment and new-build projects, where they have been planned-in, from the outset. Some Hospitals use our ‘WISKAWAY’® Wall Beds in their single cubicles, where there is more room and our ‘GLIDEAWAY’® Guest Beds in their multi-bedded bays.

Our ‘NEAT-A-WARD’® Patient Wallbed model is intended for accommodating patients themselves (as opposed to their relatives and friends), on Day Surgery units and Midwife-Led Birth Centres.

YES. Hospital Visitor Beds offers a FREE in-house consultancy service, to prospective Hospital and Hospice customers and to architects and building contractors to help determine the best model(s) and size(s) for the job in-hand and the available budget. On larger projects, we are also able to make site visits, to measure-up, attend design meetings, etc. and offer a sample bed for a mock-up room. Please contact us for further details.

QUITE POSSIBLY! In addition to the models and sizes featured on this website, we are able to offer most of our products in special made-to-measure sizes. Other modifications are also available on larger projects, to suit customers’ requirements. Examples include extra high/low beds, beds to fit into ‘difficult’ spaces, in front of pillars, radiators, etc.

We are also able to provide a larger range of wall-folding beds than is shown on this website. We have featured here, the models which have proved the most popular, over the years, for use in Hospitals and Hospices, but we can supply other single, double and made-to-measure wall beds, as well as a wall-mounted couchette bed model.

We are also able to supply free-standing, all-steel divan bases and bunk beds – all featuring the same heavy-duty, hand-welded, powder-coated, wipe-clean, tubular steel construction and non-sag, woven-steel mesh base and available in the same 10 standard bedframe colours, as the wallbeds and guestbeds, featured on this website. So, if you can’t find what you’re looking for on this website, please do ask us, rather than just assuming that we can’t help!