"A 4 inch foam cushion provided to assist a patient spending much time in bed"

I am very sorry to hear that the cushion you received had the smell of smoke and you had the inconvenience of it having to be replaced. If you wish to contact me on 07969 188207 and let me have more details, I will be happy to look into what happened and see if we can learn from this, so that it doesn't happen again.

IzzyP,

Our equipment service was very concerned to hear about your posting and upset that you received a cushion that smelled of smoke despite their stringent cleaning procedures. They have therefore been investigating why this happened in order to try and ensure it doesn't happen again.

After cleaning, all products are sealed in bags to keep them clean until issue. My colleagues have found that due to the way the smoke penetrates into the cushion, although it initially appears clean, residue odours continue to seep out from the foam after cleaning. Because cushions are sealed in a bag, the odours build up, so that when issued, it appears that they have not been cleaned.

Due to this problem the equipment service has recently changed the cleaning procedure for these types of products. They are now stripped and given a 24 hour airing period for the odours to dissipate before they are bagged for reissue.

The equipment service is very grateful to you for bringing this to their attention as they have been able to use this information to investigate the problem and put in place measures to avoid it happening again.