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Equipment, Repairs and Maintenance
Equipment
WSS providers need to introduce more modern and lightweight equipment to their NHS stock. Modern design and improved technology has allowed a wider range of options to be considered and introduced as mainstream issue.
Active stock control and management is essential to limit waste and support fleet and equipment renewal in response to these advances.
Planned preventative maintenance ( PPM) programmes and repairs and maintenance services provide additional mechanisms for introducing new products.
A model of fleet renewal and the introduction of new technology as standard linked to costs needs to be developed by the centres to ensure that equipment and fleet modernisation is proactively managed in a consistent fashion.
Refurbishing equipment and re issuing it is standard practice in health and social care equipment services. Recycling equipment can be a cost effective way to manage stock but there is a danger that it slows down or prevents proactive approaches to introducing new models and enhancing the modernisation process.
The WSS centres need to develop a model for refurbishment and equipment renewal that is based not only on sound financial criteria but also on advances in technology and changes in demand.
Repair and Maintenance
Repairs and maintenance services are provided by each centre for NHS supplied wheelchair and seating products. These services are currently provided during office hours only and an extended hours service should be explored to meet local demand. A planned approach to maintenance and repair of wheelchairs and seating will be introduced in the interest of patient safety for a defined range of wheelchairs in the first instance.
Action | Lead Responsibility | By When |
|---|
WSS Centres will modernise equipment and renew the wheelchair fleet in relation to current demand and technological advances | NHS Boards; WSS Centres | December 2010 |
A model of fleet renewal will be developed that is responsive to new technology and changes in demand | NHS Boards; WSS Centres | March 2011 |
Planned Preventative Maintenance programmes will be introduced to all centres for power chairs, heavy users and active users in the first instance | WSS Centres | December 2009 |
NHS wheelchair repair and maintenance services should explore mechanisms to provide an extended hours service in response to local need | WSS Centres | December 2009 |
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