New initiative for govt hospitals: Digital monitoring system for medical equipment by Dec

The health ministry has moved to introduce a digital monitoring system to ensure that medical devices in public hospitals remain functional, with patients complaining of long delays in diagnosis and treatment due to equipment breakdowns.

In the first phase, 300 medical devices in 114 government hospitals across the country will be brought under the "Medical Equipment Maintenance Information and Monitoring System" by December this year, said officials.

Seven types of equipment have been selected for continuous monitoring, based on their critical role in diagnosing and treating serious illnesses, including cancer. The devices include MRI, CT Scan, X-ray and radiotherapy machines, they added.

SUFFERINGS OF PATIENTS

Sixty-one-year-old Sakina Begum travelled to Dhaka from Patuakhali in mid-July, seeking better medical care. Doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) advised her on July 28 to undergo radiotherapy without delay.

But she had to wait nearly three weeks to receive the service as two of the three radiotherapy machines at the country's largest hospital have been non-functional for years.

"Had all three machines been operational, my mother could have received treatment on time," said Sakina's son Hadis Khan on Monday.

"We even contacted Barishal [Sher-e-Bangla] Medical College Hospital to know whether we can get the service there as it would be convenient for us. But we were told that the radiotherapy machine there also remains non-functional," he added.

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Like Sakina, Parvin Begum, a 50-year-old cancer patient from Narayanganj, had to wait for around 25 days for radiotherapy.

A staff member of the radiotherapy department said one machine has been out of service for seven to eight years and another for five to six years. The only machine in operation now was also repaired a few months ago.

Not only DMCH, but scores of other government hospitals across the country have been struggling to diagnose and treat patients as hundreds of medical devices remain non-functional, forcing many to seek costly services at private clinics, said health officials.

The National Electro-Medical Equipment Maintenance Workshop and Training Center (NEMEMW & TC), a government agency, is responsible for repair and maintenance of medical equipment in around 700 government hospitals.

Several officials at the agency said around 500 repair requisitions for medical devices, including high-tech equipment, are currently pending.

However, the actual number of non-functional devices is likely to be much higher, as many hospitals delay submitting requisitions.

Contacted, Jayanta Kumar Mukhopadhaya, chief technical manager of NEMEMW & TC, said they have floated a tender to repair 415 medical devices while inspections are going on to determine the problems with the rest.

The process is taking more time than usual due to insufficient manpower, he said.

At least 58 of the 95 posts at the agency remain vacant, Jayanta said, adding that the process of recruiting 55 staffers, including 19 assistant engineers, is underway and likely to be completed this year.

SYSTEM TO BE LAUNCHED BY DEC

The Health Services Division on August 18 wrote to NEMEMW & TC, directing it to develop a system to monitor medical equipment in public hospitals.

Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the health ministry, said that once put in place, the system would enhance the authorities' capacity to ensure uninterrupted services of high-tech equipment at public hospitals.

"It will give us real-time updates…We will be able to intervene promptly as the system will continue to send alerts until the device is repaired," he told The Daily Star on August 23.

Jayanta Kumar said that in the first phase, the agency will monitor high-tech and costly medical devices in 114 government hospitals, including all district and specialised hospitals.

Around Tk 30 crore may be required for the project that will cover equipment worth approximately Tk 2,000 crore.

He said that once they get administrative and financial approval from the ministry, a tender will be floated to hire a vendor. The system is expected to be launched by December.

HOW WILL THE SYSTEM WORK?

Two officials of NEMEMW & TC said they will install monitoring devices on medical equipment to track electricity consumption levels for each machine.

Explaining the mechanism, they said a piece of equipment consumes a certain amount of electricity under normal conditions, and the level of consumption increases when it is in use. However, electricity usage drops to nearly zero when the equipment becomes non-functional.

Once a machine becomes non-functional, the installed monitoring device will send a signal to the monitoring systems at the hospital, NEMEMW & TC, the Directorate General of Health Services, and the health ministry.

They further said the agency will also collect data on the equipment's installation date, maintenance history, and other relevant details, enabling higher authorities to ensure accountability of the hospital concerned.