The home palliative care equipment checklist

When a hospital tells a family the patient can go home, the conversation moves fast and the shopping list is rarely written down. This checklist is what we would give you at the counter — organised by priority, with a note on what most families over-buy.

Before you buy anything: three questions

1. What does the discharge summary specify? Oxygen, suction, feeding, catheter care — these are non-negotiable and dictate the first purchases.
2. How mobile is the patient? Fully bedridden, able to transfer to a chair, or able to walk short distances with support? This determines almost everything else.
3. Who is the primary caregiver, and what can they physically manage? An elderly spouse and a 30-year-old son need different equipment for the same patient.

Priority 1 — buy before the patient comes home

The bed

An adjustable hospital bed, electric if the patient needs frequent repositioning. Height adjustment saves the caregiver’s back. Measure the doorway and room first. See our hospital bed guide for the detail.

The mattress

If the patient will be in bed most of the day, an alternating pressure air mattress, not an ordinary foam one. Pressure sores start within hours. Our bed sore prevention guide covers the choice between bubble and tubular.

Toileting

A commode chair beside the bed, or a commode wheelchair if the patient can be transferred. This removes the hardest and most frequent problem in home care. Also consider a bedpan and urinal for night use.

Whatever the discharge summary specifies

Oxygen concentrator, suction machine, nebuliser, feeding equipment — with the prescribed specification, not an approximation of it.

Priority 2 — within the first week

• Side rails if there is any risk of falling from the bed
• Overbed table — meals, medicines, phone, reading. Restores a surprising amount of independence
• Bedside locker to keep medication and supplies within reach
• Wheelchair if the patient can be moved out of the bedroom — being able to sit on the veranda changes mood considerably
• Walker or rollator if the patient can bear weight
• BP monitor and pulse oximeter if the clinician has asked for observations at home
• Thermometer — digital, and a spare
• Heel and elbow protectors for immobile patients

Priority 3 — hygiene and daily care consumables

• Adult diapers, in the right size — sizing matters more than brand
• Underpads for the bed
• Wet wipes and no-rinse cleansing foam
• Barrier cream for skin exposed to moisture
• Disposable gloves
• Air ring or cushion for chair sitting
• Hair-washing tray for bed baths
• Sputum mug, kidney tray, gauze, tape and dressing supplies as advised

Consumables are where costs accumulate quietly. Buying these in reasonable quantity from a supplier who gives you a fair wholesale rate makes a real difference over months of care.

Set the room up thoughtfully

• Access on both sides of the bed if the room allows. It halves the difficulty of every turn, change and transfer.
• A power point near the bed head for the bed motor, air mattress pump and any respiratory equipment. Count the sockets you will need — it is usually more than you expect.
• Good light the caregiver can switch on at night without walking across the room.
• Ventilation, especially where an oxygen concentrator will run and generate heat.
• A clear path to the bathroom, with the commode chair positioned for the shortest possible transfer.
• Somewhere for the caregiver to sit and sleep. Care that exhausts the caregiver fails eventually.

What families most often over-buy

Five-function beds where three would do. Multiple mobility aids bought at once, before anyone knows what the patient can manage. And equipment ordered without measuring the doorway — which is how a bed ends up in the sitting room permanently.

Buy the bed, mattress and toileting properly. Add the rest as the routine reveals what it needs.

A note on the caregiver

Equipment that reduces physical strain — an electric bed with height adjustment, a transfer belt, a commode chair positioned to shorten a transfer — is not a luxury. It is what allows a family to sustain care for months rather than weeks.

Getting it all in one place

Cosmic Surgicals has supplied home-care setups across Kottayam district since 1990. Bring or send the discharge summary and a photo of the room, and we will build an itemised quotation with the priority-one items separated from what can wait.

Browse palliative and home-care equipment or visit our Kottayam shop.