BACKGROUND OF STUDY
1
is the branch of medicine that uses ionizing radiation for diagnosis and theraupy. These forms of radiation are produced by specific radiological equipment which can be grouped into ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation producing equipment. The first group includes the conventional x-ray equipment, fluoroscopy, computed tomography, mammography etc. The second group includes ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, etc.Today, all healthcare delivery systems are very much technology dependent and virtually no medical intervention can take place without recourse to technology or precisely medical equipments and devices.2
With the rapid change in technology, radiological equipments mentioned above are witnessing advancement in trend. This has led to an increased demand for the modern equipments which provides a more appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic quality1
. The sophistication in radiological equipment has brought with it difficulty in acquisition and maintenance. Radiographers take it for granted that someone else checks imaging equipment to ensure it’s in good working order. However, checking equipment safety is a task that all radiographers should pay attention to because it relates directly to patient care and risk management.3
When health care givers understand that the primary role of their being in the hospital is to take care of life, perhaps we may start seeing our equipments as vital tools for the sustenance of that life.The frequent down time of equipments due to poor management of those equipments or nonchalancy of attitude is a huge risk to efficient health care delivery. A visit to most of our tertiary institutions reveals for itself the countless numbers of equipments that lie idle majorly as a result of breakdown. In the Sub-Saharan Africa region, for example, a large proportion (up to 70 per cent) of equipment lies idle due to mismanagement of the technology acquisition process, lack of user-training and lack of effective technical support4
.A number of previous studies, conducted in low- and medium-income economies, indicate that as much as half of the equipment in urban and rural medical institutions is inoperable and not in use. As a result the efforts of medical and para-medical personnel are seriously impaired.5
It is against the above background that the need for the evaluation of the management of radiological equipment was hatched, because of its pivotal role in patients’ diagnosis and treatment.
1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In the course of the researcher’s clinical postings, the following observations were made:
This study hopes to find answers to the frequent breakdown (partial and total breakdown) of the radiological equipments in tertiary health institutions in Nigeria using the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) as a case study, and thus become handy to the hospital in the formulation of effective preventive maintenance and servicing of the equipment.
1.2.1 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The specific objectives of the study include:
It is believed that the findings of this research will:
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY
The study was carried out in the Radiology Department of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu.