Hospital Trollies

A hospital trolley is a wheeled cart for carrying what staff need from one place to another: dressings and instruments to the bedside, medicines on a round, supplies from the store to the ward, and linen to and from the laundry. A good trolley saves trips, keeps items organised and off dirty surfaces, and spares nurses and attendants from carrying heavy loads by hand.

Hospitals use many kinds. Instrument and dressing trolleys have flat shelves or trays, often with rails, for sterile items and wound care at the bedside. Medicine trolleys carry drugs on ward rounds. Linen trolleys keep clean linen and used linen apart; infection control guidance such as the UK's HTM 01-04 asks for separate handling of clean and used linen, linen on trolleys to be covered, and trolleys to be kept visibly clean and washed and dried regularly.

Because a trolley goes from room to room, it is one of the things most likely to carry contamination with it. Smooth, non-porous surfaces with rounded edges and welded joints are easy to wipe and disinfect. Wheels matter too: castors that roll easily take less effort to push, and brakes keep the trolley still at the bedside.

Choosing between the two materials comes down to how the trolley is cleaned. Stainless steel has no coating to chip or scratch, so it stands up best to daily disinfection and wet cleaning; SS 316 resists chlorides and stronger disinfectants better than SS 304. Powder-coated mild steel is strong and costs less, and is a good choice where the trolley is wiped down rather than washed. If a coating is chipped, touch it up so the steel underneath does not rust.

How a trolley is pushed matters as well. Manual handling guidance advises pushing rather than pulling, with the handle between waist and shoulder height, and not loading the trolley so high that the person pushing cannot see over it. Heavier items go on the lower shelf to keep the trolley stable on turns and ramps.

Trolleys also need looking after. Check the castors and brakes regularly, clear hair and thread from the wheels, and replace worn wheels before they start to stick, because a trolley that is hard to push is a strain on staff and is more likely to tip on a threshold. Clean the trolley between uses, and dry it after washing so water does not sit in the joints.

Our hospital trolleys are multi-purpose trolleys made to each hospital's requirement, in powder-coated high-grade mild steel or in SS 304 stainless steel. We also make used linen trolleys for collecting linen from the wards. They are sturdy, durable, easy to handle and easy to maintain.