- Title
- Assessment of compliance to the maintenance procedure of medical equipment in a selected hospital, Oliver Reginald Tambo District, Eastern Cape Province
- Creator
- Mbangata, Mzuyanda
- Subject
- Equipment health monitoring
- Subject
- Maintenance--Equipment and supplies
- Date Issued
- 2021-11
- Date
- 2021-11
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21871
- Identifier
- vital:51838
- Description
- Background Medical equipment assumes a major part in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases as well as illness and rehabilitation of patients. The maintenance of medical equipment is one of the most vital components in quality health care service delivery and it should not be ignored in the hospital. Therefore, it is critical that medical equipment must be maintained, and be in good working condition to ensure it completes its life cycle, also to prevent possible injuries to the patients and clinicians/end-users. Proper maintenance of medical equipment needs compliance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Inappropriate maintenance of medical equipment leads to medical equipment malfunctioning, decreases the level of medical equipment performance, and wastes money and other resources. The equipment downtime makes health care services not accessible to patients. Maintenance includes the following activities, medical equipment acceptance, preventive maintenance, inspection, calibration and repair following the manufacturer’s recommendations. Aim of the study The purpose of the study was to assess compliance to the maintenance procedures of medical equipment in a selected hospital in Oliver Reginald Tambo District, Eastern Cape Province. Methodology A qualitative descriptive design was used to access information regarding compliance with the maintenance of medical equipment in a selected hospital, in Oliver Reginald Tambo District, Eastern Cape. The compliance was accessed at the selected hospital that has eight departments. The research objectives gave a framework for how the research was to be conducted. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews until data saturation. An open coding Tesch’s qualitative method was used for data analysis. A purposive sampling technique was used to select participants who were knowledgeable and responsible for management of medical equipment maintenance. The participants were experienced clinicians and technicians answerable for medical equipment maintenance and management. The researcher adhered to ethical and trustworthiness principles. Findings The following themes and their related categories emerged as compliance procedures adhered to/applied: i) Determinants of applied procedures; ii) Compliance with maintenance that is facilitate frequent checks, daily regular testing of equipment; iii) Report faulty equipment; iv) Send equipment for repairs; v) Do follow up on repairs; and vi) Keep machines working all the time. Contributory factors to non-compliance included: Unavailability of funds; technical staff shortage; lack of technical training; non-compliance in performance of quality checks; lack of training of end users; lack of set of maintenance plans; and long procurement process. Complications aligned with non-compliance: Inappropriate referral patients; inaccessibility of health care services; and misdiagnosing patients. Recommendations The strengthening of clinical engineering department with human resources (technical staff), finance (funds for spare parts) and physical resources (workspace, testing equipment and tools, service manuals etc.) Prioritise medical equipment maintenance also improvement of maintenance budget allocation and utilization. Provision of training for end users and technical staff. Establishment and implementation of maintenance plan and improvement of procurement processes. Conclusion The selected hospital is partially compliant with the maintenance of medical equipment because the hospital performs only reactive maintenance. It evidently appeared that affected service delivery is initiated by the shortage of technical staff and equipment availability and reliability. The hospital needs to focus and improve on the above mentioned factors affecting medical equipment maintenance. The results showed that improper maintenance of medical equipment contributes to the overcrowding of tertiary hospitals through unnecessary referrals due to medical equipment malfunctioning. The study contributes to improving the maintenance management of medical equipment.
- Description
- Thesis (MPH) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiii, 75 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH Department of Nursing Science
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Mbangata_201813277_Mini Dissertationa.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |