The bio-medical engineering department at the Mumbai-based Breach Candy Hospital has been complaining of space crunch. Currently, the four bio-medical engineers and a trainee engineer in the 10 feet by 12 feet department feel congested with all the equipments stacked in the room. They also have to sit and work in the same room. At the same time, they feel their work to be over loaded on account of shortage of staff.

“We have requested the hospital management to grant us a space of 1,000 sq ft. Besides, we need two more engineers as well as more trainees to manage the work load,” said a staff member at the department.

They also complained about the inability of the hospital to impart exhaustive training programmes for the engineers to upgrade themselves of the latest technological changes in the industry.

The bio-medical engineers (BMEs) are involved with the maintenance and repair of the entire medical and laboratory equipments installed in a hospital ranging from simple hospital equipments and machines to highly sophisticated instruments like the catheterization unit, EEG, ECG, CT scan, MRI, Gama Camera etc. Usually in big private hospitals, BMEs do in house maintenance/repairs of machines. Repairs of highly sophisticated instruments are carried out on contract basis from outside. For high-end machines like the CT scan and MRI, they have warranty contracts with the manufacturers, wherein the manufacturers come and replace parts, which worn out before the warranty period.

When contacted by Pharmabiz Hospital Review, the medical director of the hospital Dr. V.P. DeSa declined to comment and directed to speak to the chief engineer of the hospital.

Chief engineer Jagdish C. Upadhyay acknowledged the problems faced by the BMEs. As an initiative process, he said, the hospital management is deciding to shift the BME department to an already existing 800 sq. ft. hall within the hospital. “The management is under discussion to shift the bio-medical engineering department to the new area. The already existing room will be used as a laboratory,” said Upadhyay.