P.A.T. and hospitals.

[Steve Walker]

The NHS trusts seem to insist that absolutely everything is tested before they'll accept it - whereas every private company I've worked at (and as a contractor, that's a fair few) accept brand new, still in it's packaging equipment as ok until the next round of testing.

My mother-in-law was in hospital, terminally ill and immobile, with only about a week to live. She was shoved on a three bedded ward with a broken TV and no phone and basically left to brood. We suggested us buying a brand new TV, but they insisted that it would have to be tested and that would take at least a week!

SteveW

[T i m]

Well there is some logic it that! ;-)

LOL .. I'm surprised he didn't call social services on you all!

I was hoping you did ... I read on the net somewhere .. "no feeling in the foot happens in 1 in 300 cases" sorta thing .. just our luck ... (now there's a good chance of her falling in the concrete garage base I'm saving up for her to do soon).

Awww bless. He's yer Dad! (I'm not particularly 'friends' with mine but we know where each other are should we need something ..).

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Quite possibly.

It coming with it's own cert from the manufacturers and probably pretty safe anyway?

"Sorry, our life support machine just electrocuted your Granny" .. ;-(

All the best ..

T i m

[robert]

As long as the fan is CE marked it will be accepted. Non-medical equipment and IT equipment unless connected to a Medical System will only be PAT tested and often only when the annual routine test comes around for that location.

Medical Electrical equipment is a different matter.

Robert

[T i m]

Which I think makes sense, considering the cost of this stuff (but I guess that doesn't actually mean much in itself). More likely they want to minimise the risk of some big law suit should the worst happen.

;-(

Nice (Not)

That's compassion for you.

I ended up fixing the headset for my MIL when she was in hospital last. I just did it quietly (even borrowing some Selotape off reception in lieu of insulation tape ) and re-patched the wires back inside one of the headset enclosures (always carry the Leatherman PST).

Easier than trying to find a working replacement ...

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. It's when you see / hear of all this broken / faulty stuff makes me want to go round and sort it all (for the patients rather than the system) but I guess politics / HSE would stop you .. (and a good job in some cases).

[Adrian]

T i m ( [e-mail]) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Heh. I live 150 miles away... (but, yes, I did stay with him for the first week after he was out of hospital)

[T i m]

Ok ..

Makes sense ..

Ok ..

Ok. The only flaw I see with that in the real world is would that also apply to 'kit' used anywhere in the hospital Colin, like fans bought for use on 'reception' (that then end up on a ward), a paper shredder in an office (backing onto a ward) the maintenance persons electric drill or the TV used in the security hut? (genuine question).

Ironically the 'rules'[1] allowed 'battery' appliances and that could include HF inverters and the like (and potentially worse for the reasons you suggest above).

All the best ..

T i m

[1] I guess they may have been simplistic interpretations thereof.

[dmc]

A friend was in hospital for a couple of weeks and stuck in a ward with

5 other people with only a broken TV that wouldn't tune to anything for more than 2 mins.

I took in the kids little DVD player that they use in the car and a scart adaptor and a Fawlty Towers box set.

Apparantly they were told to turn it off and unplug it as it hadn't been tested. 6 very bored, ill patients quickly suggested otherwise (using just a couple of choice words apparantly) and it was left alone and not mentioned for the rest of his stay :)

Darren

[T i m]

Good on em .. power to the people! [1]

All the best ..

T i m

[1] As long as it's 'radiations' didn't stop anyones pacemaker etc ... apart from laughing from Fawlty Towers that is .. ;-)

[T i m]

Ah, that is a bit of a round trip for a 2 hr visit eh ... ;-(

All the best ..

T i m

[manatbandq]

could have bought and brought in the exact same make

In a similar situation, but a residential home rather than a hospital, brand new items were OK, only used items had to be tested first.

Local rules may be different.

MBQ

[T i m]

could have bought and brought in the exact same make

Ah, there's a thought. Especially if it was brand new, exactly the same as they had and we were going to leave it there ;-)

Indeed. And to a degree like any of this sort of thing, possibly dependant on who you actually see at the time.

Like when I was stopped several times in a couple of weeks by the Police (over 30 years ago) as they were having a thing on 'vans'. 4 of the 5 times I was just asked the basic questions and sent on my way .. the last time I was done for 'exceeding the speed limit for a goods vehicle' [1] (63 mph in a 70 mph zone) .. even with 'rules' it can all be down to discretion?

All the best ..

T i m

Just taking her to the docs to have the staples removed .. I'll stay in the car

[1] Morris Minor Van

[Derek Geldard]

I got pulled over for exceeding the "van" speed limit in an Austin A35 van.

Mr Plod said "If you were to have a puncture in a vehicle like this you would not be able to control it at all"

The A35 van was derived from the A35 car!

Well, I see what he means, but the A35 car could legally be driven at

70 mph in those days. ;-)

DG

[Bob Eager]

And with a single non-redundant rear braking system too! (well, part of it.,..)

[Andrew Gabriel]

I wrote the rules for a former employer. That specified that brand new appliances with molded-on mains plugs didn't need testing unless there was any suspicion of damage in transit. In our situation, I deemed that to be an acceptable risk, and never did come across anything which failed dangerously as a result.

[Steve Walker]

They had had patientline installed (with phone, radio, TV etc.), but because it was an elderly ward, they all paid reduced rates and the company made no profit - so they ripped it all out!

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

I thought I remembered something about this point, so just checked and the van speed limit does not apply to car derived vans of less than two tons maximum laden weight.

SteveW

[T i m]

And those were sorta the lines I was thinking at the time .. turned out is was the lack of windows (2 sq ft at each side + 2 x 100 sq in at the rear I believe)?

The issue for me at the time was I was driving well under the actual speed limit for the road, on a clear dry day, on an empty road (many were in those days ) in a fully legal vehicle with a full clean licence and in a safe manner. I was respectful to the Policeman and it still became my 'first offence' (and won me an endorsement, £15 fine, £5 costs).

Like I said, some folk don't understand the concept of 'discretion' ..

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Yeah, I saw that on the news a while back. I know they have to make a living out of this sort of stuff but some of the prices did seem a bit high (especially the telephone costs and I might consider that an 'essential' if you are bed ridden, aren't allowed to use your own phone and need to stay in touch with family etc.

Then there is the question of 'would you want to convalesce in a bed next to someone running their business on the phone all day ...' (mind you, they would probably do that anyway no mater what the charges were).

All the best ..

T i m

[Derek Geldard]

Gentlemen. ;-)

I was talking about 1968 !

DG