When you pay a garage mechanic to fix your car or van, if or when a new part has been fitted you will generally be offered the old one. It is yours, after all.
In the world of biomed, especially in areas where trust has to be earned, the customer usually liked to see the old part (to prove that its replacement was indeed needed, and had actually been replaced). They would often then let you keep the old part (which usually had a value, and could sometimes be repaired or refurbished to be used (sold) again as a "Good Used Part").
In some hospitals I worked the policy was that all old parts were to be kept (stored). The trouble there was that following a few successions of O&M contractors the old spares took up far more storage space than the new ones! They also had to be accounted for and handed over into the custody of each new contractor. Even old batteries and lamps had to be "shown". Everything!
By the way, the Ministry bosses would not let us use any of those old parts (and I'm thinking of complete circuit boards and so forth here) for equipment repairs or even fault-finding swap-outs. It was very difficult to convince the bosses to dispose of any of those items, even those of obvious zero value, on a FIFO basis (all over five years old was my first suggestion). In short, no-one in authority seemed able to make a decision. Plenty of paranoia but very little initiative!
OK ... now to the present. What is the consensus these days about how to deal with old parts? Do you let visiting engineers simply take them away (does anyone ever check that new parts are actually being fitted)? What about larger parts that you change yourselves (circuit boards, motors)? What becomes of them?
Is there any "official guidance" on any of this in the UK? Do Trusts simply pay contractors to dispose of stuff in accordance with whatever the Regulations (COSHH etc.) require? I wonder what independent service providers do.
