25.07.14
Faulty NHS machines leading to deaths
Urgent action must be taken by the NHS to repair faulty medical equipment that has led to the deaths of more than 300 people in 2013 and thousands of people being injured, according to a new report.
A review by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has found more than 13,600 incidents of faulty medical equipment reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the last year.
The ‘Biomedical Engineering: Advancing UK Healthcare’ report highlighted that these incidents varied from faulty pace-makers to faulty equipment like CT or MRI scanners used to diagnose patients. This type of failure is also one of the major causes of cancelled operations.
Following the study’s findings, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has made four recommendations: every NHS acute trust should have a designated Chief Biomedical Engineer; a single, dedicated funding programme for biomedical engineering research should be established in UK Research Councils; an industrial and taxation policy should promote long-term investment in biomedical engineering to encourage domestic development and manufacturing; and there should be an international consensus pursued for global standards, a common device regulatory and approvals regime, and harmonisation of patent legislation in medical devices.
Dr Patrick Finlay, lead author of the report and chairman of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Biomedical Engineering Association, said: “Government and the NHS need to take urgent action to prioritise the role engineers play in hospitals and trusts.
“Technology is leading to huge advances in healthcare, but this technology is dependent on the work of biomedical engineers who are inadequately recognised and in short supply in most hospitals.
“It is vital that engineers are at the heart of the planning, procurement, use and maintenance of high value equipment, as well as its calibration. It is only with engineers that properly informed choices on these issues can be made in the best interests of patients and taxpayers.
In response to the report, the MHRA says a system for reporting faults in medical devices is in place. A spokesman added: “Where adverse incidents involving medical devices happen it is vital they are reported to MHRA. All such incidents are reviewed and evaluated for learning and, where appropriate, safety advice is issued to patients and healthcare professionals either directly by the manufacturer or by the MHRA.”
It was also stated that MHRA is working with NHS England to make adverse incident reporting easier and to improve the governance of medical device incidents in the health service, through the appointment of Medical Device Safety Officers with specified roles.
(Image: c. David Stillman)
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