EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion Technical Manuals

Hi everyone,
this is my first post so please bear with me.
We have recently had problems relating to information contained in technical manuals of equipment that we use from two major medical companies.
We have been given updated manuals ONLY after encountering problems at the workface. I feel that there should be a directive or a national database so that companies could automatically update their customers of changes to the manuals when they occur. They (the companies) have updated the manuals when we have highlighted a problem, why could they not do this beforehand?
We realise that there may be a cost to companies but they already do it for technical bulletins etc.
What do you think?

I love it! you could use it like the briefcase system that you have on your pc where you choose which manuals you want in your briefcase and only update them, that way you always have the most upto date manual and you can see if any have changed.

It would be good if companies would post details of updates on this site then we could update our manuals as necessary.

Lee

If the wonderful British NHS had any nous, they could not only operate such a service, but could insist upon manufacturers and/or suppliers co-operating with it. Who knows, there could even be a link from this website!

Great idea, but which will fail. All the recommendations are that technicians are required to be trained in a particular product before repair or servicing. These are MHRA recommendations, so companies such as Zeiss, Keymed, Datex, GE that have always had the training bar, can now enforce it even more. This training is not a new concept, but goes all the way back to BAREMA and HEI95

Hi everyone,
thank you for your comments so far. Just to clarify both the situations that i wrote about have arisen due to reporting serious equipment defects to the manufacturers. As a result (but not because of this) we have been issued with updated technical manuals. My whole point is - if the manufacturers can issue us with updated manuals now, why could they not have done this earlier. Before anyone asks yes the MHRA are aware of this.

Hi Claus

Which manual or company are you relating this to, so that we may check ours for this error.

Cheers Billy

hi billy,
as investigations are still ongoing i'd rather not publicise it as yet, however if you send me a private email with your details i might be able to help you more.
ta claus

If there is a problem with manufacturers having a problem with publishing their manuals here. And to be Frank i fully understand their concerns re untrained bods getting hold of the manual. We could maybe just have a manufacturers manual update advisory service whereby manufacturer X states that they have updated the manual for product Y and who should be contacted then the relevant departments can make contact.
we get our updates and the manufacturers get the info to us.
everyones happy?

just to clarify, our guys have been on the relevant manufacturers training courses and we still have the wrong manuals. This refers to two major equipment manufacturers. So yes i believe that there should be a process where people that have attended the courses receive updated manuals. Call me cynical, but I suspect it has something to do with us having to pay for updated courses when the manufacturers will then issue the new manuals.
I believe the MHRA should back us on this one (some hope)