Daily cleanliness forms an important aspect of patient care. When patients become incapable of cleaning themselves due to physical disabilities, help must be provided by others. This requires heavy physical work from the personnel of an institu¬ tion. When for instance a patient is a large disabled person, several staff members become involved in moving the patient: nevertheless there remains a risk of personnel straining their backs or otherwise injuring themselves in the course of this process. Lifting persons manually, an action which may often exceed the capability of the person performing it, endangers both the patient and the helper. The difficulty of performing by conventional means cleaning and lifting duties may also jeopardise the level of hygiene, as personnel must rapidly carry out dangerous and heavy work activities.

Until now body cleaning has been performed using traditional methods and tools. Any available auxiliary machinery has usu- ally turned out to be large, cumbersome, awkward and not well adapted to the task, which has meant that operating methods became conformant to the tools. Typical equipment includes shower baths, wash beds, wash benches, shower stretchers, shower wheelchairs and primitive washing stools. In spite of its unwieldiness this equipment must be used daily to maintain the hygiene of patients. Usually this equipment consists of separate devices, to which and from which the patient must be transported. The simpler and least expensive apparatus makes difficult even the most elementary toilet of the lower back,

since the patient sits on these parts of the body which must be washed.

The Finnish patent 54227 describes a solution well adapted to the transport and light lower back toilet of a patient. The lift, transport and wash device presented by this invention improves markedly the toilet facilities for a patient and permits a full body wash while in a position ergonomically advantageous to the personnel.

The lift, transport and wash device of this invention also re¬ moves efficiently and in a simple fashion the difficulties de¬ scribed earlier. Furthermore, its use increases the safety of both personnel and patient. This invention also augments the efficiency of patient care and thereby improves the relation¬ ships between patients and personnel. Care institutions also achieve economies through this invention: the workload of the personnel is reduced and excessively heavy exertions are eliminated, thus reducing the number of injuries and sick leaves, while job satisfaction increases. Patient care requires hygiene of the lower limbs more often than a full body wash, and this invention permits toilet at each visit to the lavatory.

Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 show one possible materialisation of this invention.

Preparation for the use of this apparatus may begin by disrob¬ ing the patient safely and easily in bed. Then the patient may

be brought over on his side with his legs bent at the knees towards the lateral railing of the bed, which has previously been lowered down. The patient may then be raised to a sitting position over the edge of the bed, as if he were sitting at the edge of the bed. The patient is then attached to the apparatus shown in Figure 1 and raised by it. He may then be moved with the lift, transport and wash apparatus to the lavatory, to toilet or to a washing facility.

Diagram 1 presents one realisation of this invention. The frame 1 rests on four freely turning wheels 2 and carries the primary lifting apparatus 4 through a raising device 3, which operates over a distance A. The primary lifting apparatus 4 may be locked in a transport position (shown in Figure 2) or turned by means of the handles 13 in the direction indicated by arrow B over approximately one quarter of a circle and locked to bring the patient into a washing attitude (show in Figure 3). The swivel axis 5 used by this operation has been selected to achieve a suitable height for washing and to maintain proper balance of the apparatus. When the apparatus has been rotated by 90 degrees the patient may be brought in washing position by lowering the foot support 7 by means of the actuators 6 over a distance C, thus loosening the waist belt and leaving the patient to rest with his elbows against the support 10 and with his hips against the waist support 9 and his legs against the knee support 11 and the foot support 7., thereby providing him with a firm and secure brace in the lift, transport and wash apparatus (show in Figure 4). The waist support 9 prevents the bending of a disabled spine by

being flexibly joined through a spring 12 to the support 10. The hip and safety belt 8 may be opened during the washing procedure. After washing the belt is secured. By using actuator 6 to move the foot support 7 in a direction opposite to arrow C, the patient is brought to a sitting position, the waist belt is clasped and the primary lifting apparatus 4 is turned upwards in a direction opposite to arrow B and locked. Then the patient may be moved in a sitting position to his bed or to another location.

A materialisation of this invention may obviously use different types of machine elements in order to provide the actions described. The location of the swivel axis 5 may also be altered, thereby changing the working position. The selection of construction materials will naturally affect the external