Can't agree with you there Kevin. However annoying small things like thermometers may be, they are still a diagnostic device and as such need to be tested unless you are prepared to do a risk assessment and remove them that way. Standards do not allow for devices to be ignored just for our convenience.
That being said, they do go awol regularly and we give then 24 months before a list is sent to the NUM of the ward asking them to either produce the device (this applies across all device types) or sign the form saying it can't be found and then we decommission from our database. By doing this we not only involve the staff in looking for missing devices but also keep our "missed items" list somewhat under control.
Dave
