Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Facilities Maintenance Management in Major Public and Private Hospitals in Kenya.

Abstract

Medical equipment malfunctions and frequent equipment failure are some of the reasons for medical errors which are a leading cause of death and injury among hospitalized patients. Dilapidated medical equipment found in various hospitals may offer substandard healthcare. There are frequent malfunctioning of hospital equipment and the resources for the maintenance processes are scarce. There is a need for effective maintenance for medical equipment in oder to attain manufacturer’s specification and clinical requirements. However, little existing literature do not provide answers for the existing problems. The purpose of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of facilities maintenance management in major public and private hospitals in Kenya, through the assessment of medical equipment performance and develop an appropriate maintenance program to assist the maintenance management practice and processes. The survey was carried out through interviews using questionnaire. Facility managers from major public and private hospital were interviewed on medical equipment management. Observation technique was also used to provide primary source of data. The data collected from the facility managers was analyzed using histograms where performance weighting was reflected based on medical equipment in hospitals. A combined mean was determined from the performance of equipment to deduce effectiveness of the maintenance organisations in major hospitals in Kenya. The finding from the analysis of the data collected revealed that the public maintenance organization does not have proper management of the medical equipment. The other facility managers have excellent procedures to coordinate and oversee the safe, secure and environmentally sound operations. They also maintain the hospital assets in a cost effective manner which is aimed at long-term preservation of the asset value. Poor maintenance and management of equipment have been contributed by lack of spare parts, inefficient technical staff, use of conditional maintenance rather than PPM. Implementation of the developed maintenance programme shall improve the maintenance management of equipment by creating an up to date inventory system, develop a real time solution on who, how and when to repair the equipment. It is expected that these results will help hospitals, the investors of the hospitals and patients. The hospitals will henceforth become effective through efficiency and reliable medical equipment. The shareholders of private hospitals and the government will benefit on increased revenue through more efficient medical equipment. The patients will benefit through correct diagnosis and hence correct treatment prescriptions saving their lives.