Spotlight on medical device management

In 1999, the field of medical device management came under close scrutiny, following the publication of a National Audit Office report in which Sir John Bourn reported that ‘more needed to be done by Trusts to manage their equipment assets effectively’. He identified many examples of good practice in the management of medical equipment, from strategic overview, to day-to-day activities such as maintenance, and in the field of medical equipment safety. However, he also highlighted the need to: • Allocate clear responsibility for medical equipment at board level. • Improve inventory management. • Better co-ordinate procurement of medical equipment across Trusts, with more involvement of technical personnel who can also usefully contribute to nonclinical aspects of user training. • Take action that should help to improve standards of reporting of adverse safety incidents and to reduce occurrence. The report highlighted some of the challenges ahead for medical equipment management and underscored the important contribution that clinical engineering teams have in delivering safe and cost-effective care. While medical device management was being raised on the political agenda, demand for education and shared learning was gathering pace – as clinical engineering managers faced increasing pressures from a growing inventory of medical devices and the challenges posed by increased expectations and regulation. At this time, a group of clinical engineering managers (attending a regional meeting of 20 hospitals), highlighted the need for a forum to discuss such issues. The result of this discussion was the launch of a dedicated website (www.ebme.co.uk) – developed by John Sandham (chair) and his colleague Huw Davies (director) to enable electro-biomedical engineering (EBME) professionals to share information, identify key issues and access educational material.

Significant demand

 Within months of going online, it became clear that there was significant demand for an educational resource and discussion forum – beyond the original audience of managers who attended this regional meeting. As the online audience rapidly grew, the website became a focal point for a large community of clinical engineering managers and technicians, and now has over 6,500 members. In addition to educational content, the forums give an opportunity to discuss key issues – from ensuring effective maintenance programmes and training of users, to achieving regulatory compliance in medical devices management. In response to demand from the membership, an EBME seminar programme was established from 2009 to support the educational aims of the website. This independent, educational event, EBME Seminar 2012: Innovations in Medical Devices is expected to be attended by over 200 medical equipment healthcare professionals, involved in areas such as procurement, maintenance, user training, and managing inventories. The seminar programme will cover issues relating to patient monitoring, inventory management, ventilation and anaesthesia – with the audience participating in debate with expert speakers. The event is also accompanied by an exhibition, featuring 45 exhibitors of EBME equipment and services.