There is described a patient lift apparatus comprising a supporting frame, a boom portion connected to the supporting frame via a pivot joint (PJ1) to allow the boom portion to pivot with respect to the supporting frame about a pivot axis (PA1), a boom actuator to mechanically assist pivotal movement of the boom portion with respect to the supporting frame, and a leg/knee support connected to the supporting frame. The leg/knee support is configured to be selectively releasable from the supporting frame and comprises a manually-operable release mechanism forming an integral part of the leg/knee support, which manually-operable release mechanism is configured to allow selective release of the leg/knee support from the supporting frame. The manually-operable release mechanism comprises a retaining device configured to cooperate with a support mount provided on the supporting frame to secure the leg/knee support onto the supporting frame, and a manually-operable handle cooperating with the retaining device to allow selective release of the retaining device from the support mount and thereby allow removal of the leg/knee support from the supporting frame.