EBME Forums Forums Management Medical Equipment Management Loan / Hire Equipment

what interval loaned and hired out medical equipment does your organisation test equipment ?
What do you determine a short term loan and a long term loan ? ( a piece of string springs to mind )

Based on our standard AS/NZS 3551:2012

8.3 HIRE OR LOAN FROM THE RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION
Medical equipment that is part of a ‘pool’ of equipment owned and maintained by the
responsible organization and provided to a patient for use in the home presents challenges
to management, particularly in terms of ready access to undertake performance verification
activities. Nonetheless it shall, as far as practical, undergo performance verification in the
same manner as medical equipment that is part of the normal inventory of the system.
AS/NZS 3551:2012

Medical equipment utilized in the home is exposed to wear and tear and abuse (from
children, pets, etc.) often in excess of that within a clinical setting. It is operated in an
environment that may be quite variable in many respects, and is used by individuals that
may not be trained health care professionals and that may not have ready and immediate
access to technical support or advice.

To accommodate this, the responsible organization and/or service entity shall develop
appropriate protocols and procedures, taking into account local circumstances, available
access to the loan medical equipment, etc., to ensure integrity and safety of the medical
equipment is not compromised.
When provided for short term use outside of the electrically protected patient areas of the
responsible organization, all Class I medical electrical equipment shall be powered from an
inline 10ma Type 1 RCD. For all long term use the medical equipment shall only be used in
areas that comply with AS/NZS 3003.


the following documents are referred to in this Standard:
AS/NZS 3760 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment which refers to loan / hire equipment being tested every 3 months although not stating medical devices.

I would suggest that the answer is contained within the text you highlight:-

A "short term loan" gets away with an in-line 10 mA RCD (but who provides/installs this?).

A "long term loan" requires an area that complies with AS/NZS 3003 (presumably an area re-worked at great expense to "medical" standards). The point is amplified further by the clause mentioned regarding the requirement for testing. So it could be argued that "3 months and beyond means long term".

So ... not so much the time lapsed per se ... but rather the environment to which the equipment is "loaned" into.

As my Dad used to say (to his "mates" scrounging tools):- "what's the point of calling it a loan, when we both know I'll never see it again"?

Think positive and use such commitments to support your demands for more technical manpower; especially as the "community" environment is just as likely (more) to present hazards to patients and (visiting?) staff as any in a (closely monitored) hospital setting.

You also mentioned "hired out". Do you actually mean that?

I ask as that implies a contractual situation (legally enforceable commitments, insurance, and so forth). That would also be "good news", as the contract can lay down testing and/or PM requirements, as well as the obligations of the "borrower", and who is responsible in case of loss or damage etc., etc.

We have nothing in place everything just goes out the door without being recorded staff have no idea of their obligations and more often than not when it is returned they place it back on the ward without going via biomed.

A "short term loan" gets away with an in-line 10 mA RCD (but who provides/installs this?)
We have previously supplied a portable RCD device and tracked via the database. However this is not happening when staff just give equipment away

Not good (obviously). What does Senior Management say about all this?

And ... who carries the can when things go wrong (as they are bound to, eventually)?

If I were you, I would clearly express the situation to (as in:- write to) the Bosses, complete with recommendations about how to remedy matters. To my mind, all such issues may be adequately covered by decent Policies and Procedures.

We insist on the details of any maintenance requirements as part of the initial indemnity paperwork, and clarify who is doing it and if it is the supplier, how and when?

The supplier will put and end date of the loan on the paperwork, if we haven't heard anything from them we contact them as the indemnity has expired.

Short term - we class as "it doesn't need any maintenance whilst it's on site" or under 3 months
Long term - requires maintenance during the loan process or over 3 months - we then register on our medical device database.

We will EST all loan equipment every 12 months ourselves too.

We always keep accurate records of everything that comes in the door - we try and be the gateway for all medical devices that enter or leave the hospital.

Hi there.

Well here's a can of worms, and its a real so and so to manage.

If your Organisation supplies equipment to the patient, then your Organisation is responsible for that equipment and (of course) those staff supplying the equipment are also responsible.
So, annual performance verification and electrical safety testing to ASNZS 3551.
This is hard to implement as you need to patient to bring in their equipment (thinking CPAPs and like here) for annual testing - of course you could extend this period to say two years (or even more) ASNZS 3551 allows you to do this.

I'm not talking about a home dialysis set up here - that is managed differently. And, yes the home electrical supply is upgraded in its area/room to Body Protected Electrical Area (ASNZS 3003) as well as water quality - its a complete mission.

Hire equipment - an item returning from a hire needs to be fully tested before it goes out on a new hire - this is the same medical equipment as it is for the hire shop 'down the road' where you hire a drill from.
Remember this is the same for equipment that your Organisation hires out as well as equipment hired in.

I would advise that you create a new "pool" or "Group" for your reporting as you don't want this hard to manage equipment "diluting" your KPI - especially when you have a few thousand CPAP's out there.

Any way back to work.

Phil in NZ

At one place where I did some work the Respiratory Therapy staff ran a monthly "CPAP Clinic". It was actually more like a club, where CPAP users (patients) came into the hospital every now and then. They brought their machines along which gave us an opportunity to check-out the equipment. It had the feel of a social event (well, we often had a good laugh at least). I think there may have been a "Nebulizer Clinic" as well.

Just a thought about Oz ... how does stuff like this work out when the "community" is actually a sheep station in the Outback?

OUTBACK !!

Perth is the Outback everything is about 20 years behind if you haven't picked this up from my posts yet.

When I worked in the NHS we also had CPAP testing. However we got informed that somebody had decided to start his own servicing service collecting from people in the community and bringing them in for a free service then charging people.

This was soon stopped when he was turning up on regular basis to getting information from the person dropping off the device

You have to love a chancer....

That sounds to me that the guy was only doing what the "community team" should have already been doing in the first place. I think that the "community biomed" (visiting technician) may be needed these days, considering the amount of kit being dished out into the "community".

But what about your "community" Down Under? Do you in fact need the "Flying Biomed" or would a bloke with an old Land Cruiser be enough?