Etac presents in Lecture Theatre 1, Day 2 at OT Show 2026

🗓️ 26th November, 11:30-12:00, Lecture Theatre 1

Heather’s journey - a powerful and moving case story highlighting the importance of appropriate equipment and collaborative support in complex patient care

About the presentation

Heather’s journey demonstrates how innovative moving and handling solutions, combined with multidisciplinary collaboration, can transform outcomes for patients with complex needs. Living with severe Pemphigus Foliaceus and a larger body morphology, Heather experienced significant pain, immobility, loss of dignity, and rapid deconditioning due to limitations of conventional equipment.

This case study explores the challenges faced by both patient and staff, the introduction of the HoverMatt® PROS Air Sling and HoverCover micro-sheets, and the remarkable impact these interventions had on pain reduction, rehabilitation, staff efficiency, and ultimately Heather’s recovery and return to independence.

Learning Objectives

1. Recognise the impact of delayed mobility interventions and how prolonged bed rest can rapidly lead to deconditioning, increased falls risk, and reduced rehabilitation potential.
2. Understand the importance of selecting appropriate equipment for patients with complex morphology, fragile skin, and high levels of pain to improve safety, comfort, and dignity.
3. Appreciate the value of multidisciplinary collaboration between clinical teams, moving and handling specialists, therapists, and equipment providers in achieving positive patient outcomes.
4. Identify how innovative transfer and repositioning technology can reduce staff burden, improve workflow efficiency, support rehabilitation goals, and enhance both physical and psychological patient well-being.

About the presenter

Heather is a Patient Moving & Handling Service Lead for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. With over 37 years' experience in health and social care, she has dedicated her career to improving moving and handling practice, staff safety, and patient outcomes. She began working for the Local Authority within the Moving and Handling Forum before spending 10 years working across both the Local Authority and the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust as a Manual Handling and Health & Safety practitioner through a Service Level Agreement. She has been in her current position for 10 years and is proud to lead a team of four dedicated Patient Moving and Handling (PMH) professionals who support staff training and complex patient handling situations across the Trust.

Heather oversees training programmes, and service improvement projects. She has also introduced a complex patient referral alert system, enabling staff to refer patients with moving and handling challenges directly to the PMH team for timely assessment and support.

Having completed a PG Cert in Human Factors and Ergonomics for Patient Safety, Heather is passionate about applying human factors principles to influence behaviours, improve auditing processes, and maintain consistent best practice across the Trust, while promoting the right equipment for the right patient at the right time.

We hope you can attend and visit us on Stand G40.