Would you want to fly on a plane that had been serviced by unregulated engineers?
Of course not but a ECG machine is not likely to fall from 40,000 feet and kill hundreds of people!
As others have said, just having statutory regulation and registration will not stop any incidents from occurring. In fact the VRCT seems to be trying to include many individuals, who clearly have no direct patient contact or influence, into the mix to bolster numbers.
Those installing, repairing and maintaining medical equipment are best served by proper management and management systems than by any compulsory registration or licensing of engineers. This will simply add costs and bureaucracy that will not improve safety. Even over qualification can have a negative impact as many will become bored and complacent of not taxed to their abilities.
I would like Jim to provide some real world examples from the thousands of incidents allegedly occurring due to the lack of proper regulation. Then we could really locate the problems and not just second guess them, if they exist at all.
