Purchasing

A good rule to follow is to choose industry names. They are more expensive, however, they offer much better value for money. Here are some examples:

Blood pressure monitors

Even when looking to purchase a new sphygmomanometer do not always pick the cheapest. You can buy cheap no-brand sphygs for pounds or you may even have been given one for free from a drug company representative. These are poor quality units and should not be used as a reliable and accurate measure of blood pressure.

Scales

Do not buy cheap domestic scales, stick to industry brands. If you can afford it we would recommend SECA digital
scales.

Remember to place scales on a hard surface and try to keep them in the same place. Moving scales from underneath a bed and placing them on carpet, weighing the patient then putting the scales back under the bed is not good practice. A simple piece of wood will do the trick.

Be gentle with scales, do not kick them or push them with your feet.

ECGs and Defibrillators

Again stick to the big names, they offer the best support and reliability. Try and get demonstrations from companies, often these are free of charge.

Check your pads are in date and are securely fastened within the packaging, if exposed to air they can quickly dry out, when this happens they can no longer be used.

Ear syringes

The majority of ear syringe units in the UK are Pro Pulse (made by Mirage). It is very important to have your ear syringe checked. Perforation and ear drum damage is the biggest form of litigation against practices; pressure must be checked to ensure it is not operating above the recommended guidelines. There are still many old units out there that are especially high in pressure and are potential harmful.

Height measurers

This may seem a slightly bizarre test, however, you would be surprised at how many height measures are over 3 centimetres out.

If using a measure that secures to the wall, ensure you measure from the floor to different measurements on the tape before fixing it in place. Check at various intervals, for example, 0.5 metres, 1 metre, 1.5 metres and 2 metres. You may need 2 people! Secure the height measurer firmly so the screw does not come loose.

Not sure about a make and model?

TAG Medical Ltd test thousands of pieces of medical equipment every year and know which makes and models are the top performers. Not sure which is the best performing digital BP monitor? Please give us a call, we will be happy to let you know.

Test and calibration

Test and calibration should be performed every 12 months on all medical equipment. To minimise disruption, see if you can get your PAT testing done at the same time.

The purpose of test and calibration is to check that medical equipment is working correctly and has no faults; the equipment is measured against a calibrated source and cross checked to ensure it reads correctly against a known input. If equipment does not measure the simulated input accurately enough or does not fall within the given tolerance it is then calibrated to meet the tolerance.

Why bother having test and calibration, we didn’t used to do this?

Calibration is a way of verifying a machines accuracy to a known standard. This can help to minimise misdiagnosis by identifying poorly calibrated or malfunctioning equipment.

Test and calibration will provide you with peace of mind, knowing all of your equipment is 100% accurate and is working as well as it did on the day it was purchased.

What to look out for when choosing a company:

The company

There are now many companies that will offer you test and calibration services. Choose an independent company, a company that specialises in GP equipment testing and calibration. A lot of medical equipment suppliers now offer a test and calibration service to supplement their supplies. This is an additional service to selling medical equipment and is often tied in together.  They may be more inclined to fail a piece of equipment and replace it with a new one rather than repair it. Many of these suppliers have started test and calibration as an add-on service to their core business, this
means the quality of the service is often jeopardised and poor. A specialist company’s knowledge should be more precise and helpful.

Documentation

All equipment should be labelled and certificates should relate to individual pieces of equipment. The documentation should be presented to you clearly and concisely.

If you are tempted by a low cost service, something will have to give somewhere. Often the quality of the documentation is one area in which you will notice this.

Day rate? Cost?

Be clear on how much work is involved to start with. Half and day rates can be tricky. The amount of time it takes to carry out the work is dependent on the availability of the equipment. If you only have 20 items to test and you pay a full day rate then you could be paying the technician to drink a lot of tea! Look for a company that can work around your practice and perhaps offer a two hour slot during lunchtime or a less busy Wednesday afternoon, for example, to test your 20 items. Try and work on a per item price rather than day rates. This way you will then know exactly what you are paying for and you will not be disappointed to find out that not all your equipment has been tested come 5pm on the day.

Contracts

Do not be pushed into contracts, only sign up when you are 100% happy.

TAG Medical has an excellent reputation for quality of service and can answer any questions you may have about this article.