EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Access to equipment for maintance?

Yes Gown up and go in there !! Simple Really !!

That seems to be the only reasonable answer, working out of hours/weekends when there are no lists on. We currently try to rotate any equipment in Theatres, but we are quite lucky to have some excess equipment. Otherwise it would be when lists have finished and theatres have been emptied. I see no other real outcome for this problem.

Has anybody check the terms and conditions of the contracts they have with contractors?

I think you'll find hospitals have a resposibility to provide reasonable access to the equipment at agreed times, otherwise penalties will be incurred. This typical of the wording from a contract:

"The customer will allow access to the machine at a time previously agreed between the customer and the company. If access is denied or delayed despite adequate notice being given in writing, waiting time will be charged at XXXX per hour. In the event of a completely frustrated visit costs incurred will be chargeable"

This wording is typical of a lot of the contracts we hold, some contractors will also stipulate the times they will carry out the contract service, i.e. 09:00 till 17:00 If this is not acceptable, it should be negotiated prior to the contract being signed.

I know I posted this question originally, but I have now moved employers...whoopee...!!!

When I was working for a contractor recently and mainly in theatres access was and still is a pain.

Yes we would gown up and wait it out, but usually weekends were no better! For then the private lists came to be done. So access was still denied. As I understood it the company I left recently, had negotiated contracts on a 9am-5pm basis. It was then down to the induvidual engineer to gain access when it suited him if outside these hours..

Some EBME departments even asked if extra monies were paid could it be done outside normal working hours..? But these were few and far between..

Generally a field service engineer will do what ever is required to satisfy both the client and themselves.. we all have lives outside of work don't we ????

Or is the old cherry do " You live to work?, or work to live " not applicable here ??

All the best boy's!!

We have always insisted that spare equipment is available for breakdowns and PM. When this has been explained to the powers that be there has been little or no argument.

Consider the cost if an anaesthetic monitor failed and a list was cancelled because there isn't a spare? That usually focusses the minds of the general managers with their waiting list initiatives. I have not found a single anaethetist/surgeon complain about buying spare equipment.

On one occasion, I discovered an anaethetist wheeling into theatre the spare anaesthetic monitor to reassure themselves of the gas measurements.

A simple analogy: If the consultant's car will not start in the morning and there is a list they need to do they would probably call for a taxi. The excuse of "my car would not start" would not be acceptable, but probably would be believed.

There is of course the question of the ratio of equipment/spares to consider, I suggest this is based on risk assessment for each individual department and undertaken by the theatre manager.

All of this supports good contingency planning and provides assurances to the users of service continuity. (not to mention fewer patients cancelled )

An increasing range of equipment items have the ability to store a service date. When the next service comes due the unit will warn the user that it's due for service.

Naturally there is an override of some sort so what happens is staff often select the "I'll use it anyway" menu item.

It's a little extra help

Marc

We try to get extra equipment purchased to permit a small surplus. This makes our job a bit easier. We are also setting up an equipment library for more general stuff. As for specialist / busy areas we send a list at the start of every month. If the kit, which is also clearly labelled as to next service due "dont use after", isnt made avialabe we log a job to say we asked for it and move on. We also advice risk management and the head of the clinical department of the state of play, quite often youll find they arent aware of the problem.

Is the consensus, then, that PM’s in operating theatres need to be done outside of normal hours, when access is a lot easier. I have been doing just that lately (and will be doing some more this evening), and was wondering whether I was the only one around daft enough to do this? Personally, I don’t mind, but I can well imagine that younger guys (ie, those with family and social commitments) might not be too keen to take a turn. How do other departments manage PM in the theatres?

Out of hours Geoff, and we still get thrown out if an emergency comes in.

Hello all,
We only lookafter endoscope washers in theatres, 13 washers in 7 locations and we can't get to them for weekly nevermind quarterly testing! But its funny how when they break down we are required that second....I'm a renal engineer by trade and yes you guessed it midnight to six am or sunday is the only time to get at our RO plant so we're quite used to working out of hours,
Geoff you are not alone