Equipment management: the Cinderella of bio-engineering.

In recent years the work associated with equipment maintenance has become increasingly important. As concern for efficiency grows, the use of expensive equipment is questioned more closely. The running costs associated with such equipment are seen to be of growing relevance. Nonetheless, it is important to examine the work of maintenance departments, to identify the salient features and to ensure that the service is run as efficiently as possible. It becomes clear that the necessary support is considerably more than mere maintenance. Complete equipment management must be provided. Further, appropriate performance indicators must be developed, not only to allow overall efficiency to be examined, but also to assist in the daily running of the service. Examples are drawn from a typical equipment management department.