Issue

In 2005, a major NI hospital needed to kit out its new imaging centre (MRI, CT scanner, X-ray). However, there were many other pieces of equipment throughout the hospital that were due for replacement or upgrade. They needed an affordable solution to access high quality technology partners to meet all their needs.

Action

A Managed Equipment Service (MES) is a partnership approach to the procurement, maintenance and management of medical equipment to a hospital group specification for which an availability charge is levied. Cardiac Services had an ongoing relationship with the hospital and was able to agree a 15-year MES contract for a range of departments in the hospital, which is still operating today.

Outcome

• Creating a large scale, cross hospital MES allowed the hospital to treat technology as an operating expense, no requirement for capital funding
• All risks associated with installation, training, maintenance, support, replacement and disposal are borne by the equipment provider.
• This approach allows Royal Victoria to maximise return on investment whilst ensuring the best clinical outcomes that modern medical devices and equipment can offer.
• Downtime, due to equipment failure, is minimised and maintenance is provided through Service Level Agreement
• Responsibility and risk of keeping pace with fast changing technology is passed from the hospital to Cardiac Services.