SCHEDULED INSPECTION OF ELECTROMEDICAL EQUIPMENT - PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT

Scheduled inspections help ensure the safety and efficacy of medical e quipment. To ensure the regular checking of all items we developed a p ractical and realizable protocol consisting of basic safety and functi onal tests. Non-productive time spent searching for equipment was redu ced enlisting the help of ward staff. Record keeping was simplified us ing monthly checklists detailing the tests to be performed. Clear labe ls distinguished items checked and the ward was informed about missing items. The effectiveness of the programme was assessed by auditing th e number of items due for inspection, the average time per inspection, the number of faults found, and the incidence of breakdown repairs. T he average inspection time per item was reduced to half an hour and th e number of items due for inspection to below 10%. The programme was e ffective in fault detection (7% of items checked) and the incidence of breakdown repairs decreased from 75 to 53%.