Maintenance Management of Hospital Equipment: A Case Study for Public Hospitals in Kenya

Abstract

The evaluation of the existing facilities maintenance management practices and processes in major public hospitals in Kenya has been studied. The study was established to determine how they managed the life cycle of the medical equipment. The results offered management the opportunity to appraise the overall maintenance program being made by the facilities maintenance management. It also sought improvement for increased efficiency and more effective utilization of available resources. A computer programme was developed to improve the status of the facility maintenance management in the major hospitals in Kenya. Interviews were used to obtain detailed information concerning the performance of the maintenance organizations. The structured interviews were carried out with key personnel of each organization categorized into three respondent groups, namely the hospital, consultant and contractor. Eight hospitals replied positively to the questionnaires. The results were analyzed and displayed in a histogram graph with an assistance of a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SSPS) program. The challenges encountered in this research included hospital's policy and technological resources. The completion of the study assisted the facilities maintenance management in the hospitals to determine its performance status and pin-point areas where there are short-falls in the organization's service. The maintenance computer program was developed based on the results to improve the existing facilities maintenance management practice and processes in major hospitals in Kenya. The program developed guides the user on the causes of the fault, possible personnel to handle the fault in the medical equipment.