Exploring Lessons from Regional Maintenance Workshop to Enhance Medical Equipment Functionality in Ethiopia

Abstract Background WHO estimates that around 50% of medical equipment in developing countries are not functional. In Ethiopia, lack of proper management of medical equipment has limited the capacity of health institutions to deliver adequate health care services. Objective To evaluate the status of regional medical equipment maintenance workshops in relation to their establishment purpose. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study where we used structured questionnaires to determine the number of qualified biomedical engineers and biomedical technicians, the number of the health facilities beneficiaries, the management structure, the maintenance and the training activities of the maintenance workshop. The collected data were analyzed by Microsoft excel. Results In May 2021, assessments were carried out on 10 of 11 regional medical equipment maintenance workshops established by Ethiopia ministry of health. The number of biomedical engineers and biomedical technicians working in the workshop vary from nine to two. The number of health facilities receiving maintenance service was as high as 87 and as low as one. 25% of preventive maintenance and 40% of corrective maintenance activities were practiced in the maintenance workshops. 13.3% of the training activities were practiced in the maintenance workshops. The management structure of the workshops was varying and lacked basic materials and a budget to provide training and maintenance services. Conclusion The assessment indicates that the role of maintenance workshop to support the functionality of medical equipment is not as desired which indicates the need of improvement plan by ministry of health and other stakeholders working on healthcare systems.