SECTION: all section

POLICY FOR THE SAFE AND EFFICIENT USE OF MEDICAL

EQUIPMENT POLICY NO. VI.35.1

RESPONSIBLE PARTY: All Facility Staff PAGES:

REVIEWED/ REVISED: 0 DATE ISSUED:

REGULATORY/STANDARD REFRENCE:
The organization plans a safe and effective environment of care consistent with its mission, services, and with
laws and regulations.
I. Purpose
To ensure improved access, quality and use of medical equipment.

II. Scope:
All Patients and Health Staffs

III. Policy:
a. It is the policy of PCF to ensure that a formal system to manage medical equipment is
established in the facility;

b. This is essential to ensure patient safety through clinical and social care governance, risk
management and quality assurance of Medical Devices/Equipment;

c. The policy aims to minimize related hazards, to ensure that employees are properly
trained and competent in the use of Medical Devices/Equipment, that devices are
maintained in a safe and reliable condition, are quality assured and subjected to asset
management that is inclusive of device history and tracking;

d. The PCF promotes the use of a standards based approach which will instill a safer, more
efficient, and high quality management of all medical devices/equipment.

IV. References
V.1 ACMC Medical Device and Equipment Management Policy

V. Preparation and Approval:

Prepared by: Reviewed by: Approved by:

SECTION: all section

PROCEDURE FOR THE SAFE AND EFFICIENT USE OF MEDICAL
EQUIPMENT PROCEDURE NO. VI.35.1

RESPONSIBLE PARTY: All Facility Staff PAGES:

REVIEWED/ REVISED: 0 DATE ISSUED:

REGULATORY/STANDARD REFRENCE:
The organization plans a safe and effective environment of care consistent with its mission, services, and with
laws and regulations.
I. Purpose
To ensure improved access, quality and use of medical equipment.

II. Scope:
All Patients and Health Staffs

III. Procedure

Procurement
1. Advice maybe sought form the involve point person of each health program about
Procurement of medical equipment
2. Prior to ordering any new medical equipment the following factors should be
considered:
 Clinical requirements
 Maintenance implications
 Suitability
 Compatibility with other equipment
 Patient’s safety
 Whole life cost;
 Training requirements
 Standardization/preferred devices
 Decontamination
Acceptance Procedures for New Equipment
1. All new medical equipment has to be checked for any damage caused by faulty items
prior to acceptance and asset registration
2. All new medical equipment must be entered in the asset register before use and
identified with a unique number
3. The medical equipment officer must ensure that they are in receipt of the equipment
user manual when accepting the equipment
4. The medical equipment officer must ensure that all users of the equipment should
receive appropriate training on equipment before it is put into use, and that this training
is recorded.
Device Instructions
All professional and end users must have access to manufacturer’s instruction both for
reference purposes and to ensure that the device is operated properly and safely at all
times.
Care of Equipment by Users
1. Users must follow the manufacturer’s guidelines on the care and user maintenance of
equipment.
2. Regular basic checks by user s prior to use checking for, as a minimum, any obvious
signs of damage, cleanliness and faults affecting performance or safety.
3. Faults are to be reported using the issued by the General Services Office. Clear
labelling of any fault is required to aid in a prompt turn- around of equipment.
4. Equipment must be decontaminated and labelled as such prior to being sent to repair.
Users must arrange for suitable storage when not in use and that any equipment that
has rechargeable batteries is kept on charge.
5. Medical equipment officer must arrange for suitable storage of medical equipment in
storage rooms/cabinets and should take into account any special requirements for
infection control, temperature, humidity, etc.
Maintenance
 1. The RHU has in place an agreement with various agencies for the provision of
maintenance and repair of its medical equipment.
2. The frequency and level of maintenance must be adjusted at the recommendation of
the contracted agency or by the manufacturer’s manual and will be evidenced based
and risks assessed.
3. Medical equipment officer must ensure that medical devices are made available at
the time of scheduled maintenance.
4. Carried out maintenance on medical equipment must be documented and must be
kept by the medical equipment officer. This would be normally a copy of the company
service report.
Decontamination
1. Users of medical equipment are responsible for the decontamination of the
equipment in accordance with the RHUs Decontamination Policy
2. Any equipment that has been decontaminated must be labelled as such.
Disposal of Medical Equipment
1. Medical equipment maybe considered for disposal as a result of its obsolescence,
failure to meet current treatment standards, uneconomic or poor serviceability etc.
Decontamination should be carried out prior to final disposal.
2. Disposed medical equipment must be tagged. Tags are available at the Medical
Equipment Office.
3. Batteries from battery operated medical equipment must be removed before putting
them both to the sealed transparent bag.
Incident Reporting
1. All incidents and “near misses” must be reported via the Medical Equipment Incident
Report.
2. Staffs’ reporting incidents involving medical equipment are advised to isolate and
label the equipment and any associated consumables.
3. The medical equipment officer together with the Municipal Health Officer will review
all reported incidents involving medical equipment and inform the General Services
Office.
Replacement of Equipment
1. Equipment must be replaced when it becomes unsafe to use, no longer producing
clinically acceptable results and no longer supported by the manufacturer.
Training
1. The RHU requires that staff should only use the equipment that they are confident
and competent to use.
2. Staff should not use equipment for which they have not received training.

IV. References
V.1 ACMC Medical Device and Equipment Management Policy

V. Preparation and Approval:

Prepared by: Reviewed by: Approved by: