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Field safety notice FSN-UK-2026-02

Scale readings after a change to lithium-ion battery packs

Issued
Products
VR-7, VR-7 XW, VR-5
Status
Open
Last updated

Products affected

VR-7, VR-7 XW and VR-5 beds in which a lithium-ion battery pack (VR7-0590 or VR5-0590) has been fitted and the battery charge profile has not been changed from “lead-acid”.

What has happened

We have received reports from a hospital outside the UK that three beds showed a weight 0.4 kg higher than expected after their battery packs were changed from lead-acid to lithium-ion. Our investigation found that in each case the battery charge profile had been left at its factory setting, “lead-acid”. With that setting, ripple from the charger reaches the reference circuit of the scale’s load cells while the bed is connected to the mains.

No reports have been received from hospitals in the UK or Ireland and no patient harm has been reported anywhere. The fault affects only the scale, and only while the bed is charging. Positioning, alarms and all other functions are unaffected.

The charge profile has been part of the battery-change procedure since controller firmware 4.10 (customer information CI-UK-2025-03). Every pack fitted by a Van Roon engineer has had the profile set at the time. Packs fitted by hospital engineers may not have.

Action to be taken by the user

  1. Identify any VR-series bed in which a lithium-ion battery pack has been fitted by your own staff or a third party.
  2. On each of those beds, check the charge profile in the service menu (Settings › Battery › Charge profile). If it reads “lead-acid”, change it to “lithium-ion” and re-zero the scale with the platform empty.
  3. Until the check is done, use a separate calibrated scale for any weight used to calculate a drug dose.
  4. Return the acknowledgement form to us within 30 days, even if you have no affected beds.

Contact

For questions about this notice, contact the service desk on 0808 157 0614 (Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:30) or service@vanroon.uk, quoting FSN-UK-2026-02.

The competent authorities concerned have been told about this notice. This notice has been sent to every hospital on our records with the products affected.

Issued by Van Roon Medical UK Ltd on behalf of Van Roon Medische Techniek B.V., Leiden, on 21 September 2026.