Biomedical engineering in the spotlight

High on the agenda will be discussion of device management policy, the challenges facing healthcare organisations, and strategies for reducing risk and cost.

Hospitals have always faced fundamental questions of patient safety, care, and budgetary concerns. There has been increasing recognition recently of the serious issue of medical devices management, covering the areas of procurement, training, maintenance, and governance. This issue, documented by the National Audit Office, National Patient Safety Agency, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, National Health Service Litigation Authority, and World Health Organization, impacts on healthcare costs and patient safety. It has led to new Health and Social Care Act Regulations, enforced by the Care Quality Commission.

The EBME seminar is an independent educational event bringing together healthcare professionals that are responsible for the management of medical equipment. These medical equipment healthcare professionals are involved in areas such as procurement, maintenance, user training, and managing inventories. Electro-biomedical engineering (EBME) professionals in the field of medical devices management attend the professional seminar to share their specialist experience and knowledge. This event seeks to inform EBME practitioners through a series of presentations at the seminar, and continued discussions thereafter in the online EBME Member Forums (www.ebme.co.uk).