Mind the gap: downtime reporting and procurement challenges for radiation and diagnostic equipment in the NHS

Despite current efforts to improve diagnostic and therapeutic equipment availability in the NHS, downtime still poses a challenge, particularly in terms of capacity implications and public service procurement. While data is collected in current reporting systems, service data is not always consistent. This makes it particularly difficult to establish a coherent understanding of equipment downtime trends. For this reason, this paper explores the gap between equipment downtime reportage, procurement principles and the realities of service engineering. By analysing data obtained directly related to downtime service experience with radiotherapy and diagnostic equipment for a host of NHS trusts, it is apparent that there is a systemic impediment to data usage. By contrasting the NHS with global exemplars such as those in Denmark and the Netherlands, and the United States Department of Defense procurement systems for high cost equipment assets, this paper aims to consider different methods to upgrade asset analytics. A socio-technical methodology is proposed to enable the combination of maintenance data with increased data visibility and predictive analytics incorporated within public procurement.

National Equipment Tracking and Inventory System (NETIS), currently in its rollout and early implementation phase, is an NHS platform designed to standardise and centralise equipment data across trusts. It serves as one example of a vendor-agnostic, reliable data analytics system. This paper concludes with recommendations related to the incorporation of vendor-agnostic reliable data analytics systems such as NETIS.

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