Background Our hospice provides holistic and end of life care to those with life-limiting illness and complex symptom management - part of this is providing effective pressure area care which includes the use of specialist air mattresses thus ensuring safe effective pressure relief for our vulnerable patient group (NICE. Pressure ulcers: prevention and management. [CG179], 2014). As part of this work, we undertook a review of mattress maintenance.

Aim To establish a process to provide assurance that problems are identified at the earliest stage and staff had knowledge and skills to manage the mattresses effectively.

Method A multidisciplinary team approach was taken including the Practice Development Lead, Auxiliary Nurses and the maintenance team to look at new ways of working. Best practice was established by working with the local Trust and liaising with their mattress co-coordinator. Following this mattress champions were created and a quality improvement approach was taken through the use of focus groups and training which empowered staff with knowledge on safe mattress use.

Results A passport was developed and split into sections including a photograph of the mattress, its serial number, usage of the mattress and subsequent cleaning and documentation along with general information on how to safely use the mattress along with any trouble shooting issues. All information and documentation is kept in one place enabling audit to be carried out easily and ensuring standards are being maintained (NHS England. National infection, prevention and control manual. Appendix 7: Decontamination of reusable non- invasive care equipment. 2023).

Conclusion We are confident that the mattress passport ensures patient experience is at the forefront of what we do - enabling the right mattress at the right time and patient safety is maintained. If mattresses are well maintained it increases their life span, reducing cost to the organisation along with having a positive impact on the environment.