CG11 – Practice equipment

Having well maintained equipment that is in working order at all times enables the practice to provide safe comprehensive primary care and emergency resuscitation.

A fully equipped doctor’s bag gives GPs immediate access to core equipment, medications and stationery so they can provide the necessary care when they make home and other visits or in the event of an emergency off site.

Providing the clinical team with appropriate education on how to use the practice’s clinical equipment relevant to their role helps the practice to deliver safe quality care, reduce adverse events and maintain workplace health and safety.

Medicines, samples and medical consumables must be stored in accordance with legislation and manufacturers’ directions.

All equipment that requires calibration, has consumables with expiration dates, or is electrical or battery-powered (for example, electrocardiographs, spirometers, autoclaves, vaccine refrigerators, scales and defibrillators), needs to be serviced annually in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions so that it remains in good working order.

The practice needs to store all hazardous materials, including liquid nitrogen and oxygen, in accordance with work health and safety regulations.

The practice could:

• maintain a central register and/or checklist in consultation rooms, that lists all clinical equipment in the practice, along with schedules for cleaning, servicing and that maintenance is up to date
• keep documentation from companies that have provided external testing and calibration of equipment, so regular maintenance checks can be scheduled
• consider maintenance, cleaning and servicing of practice equipment as part of the procurement processes.

When maintaining equipment in the practice, consider infection prevention and control (see CG9 – Infection prevention and control, including reprocessing). This could include adopting clearly defined actions such as:

• scheduling maintenance outside of patient visiting hours
• performing deep cleaning before and after maintenance
• using barriers to isolate the area where maintenance is being conducted.

The practice could:

• maintain a checklist of equipment that is needed in consultation rooms
• maintain an equipment register, including all the required equipment and contents of doctor’s bag
• perform a regular audit of the practice’s equipment, including doctor’s bag
• educate members of the clinical team about equipping the doctor’s bag, including information about the medicines it needs to contain.

Every practice with a physical premises needs to have a height adjustable bed, to ensure patient and staff safety. It is recommended that the bed be turned off when not in use to prevent user safety incidents.

Follow these guidelines when purchasing height-adjustable beds:

• Preferred minimum range of height adjustment: 45–95 cm
• Preferred maximum weight capacity: 175 kg
• Preferred minimum width of table: 71 cm
• Preferred minimum length: 193 cm
• Number of sections: two (so the head section can be raised).

The practice could consider whether it is appropriate to have equipment that accommodates patients with particular needs, such as:

• bariatric beds, seats and scales
• mobility aids (for example, grab bars, raised seats).

The practice needs to store the bag securely and in accordance with state and territory laws.

The practice must comply with legislation relating to the acquisition, use, storage, and disposal of Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 medicines.

Certain medications are provided to prescribers without charge through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). A list of these medications to include in the doctor’s bag is available at the PBS website.

The emergency drug (doctor’s bag) order form is available at the Services Australia website.
 

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne has developed an emergency medication and resuscitation resources page and emergency drug dose calculator that may be used when considering which items to include in a doctor’s bag.

Determining the education needed for each member of the clinical team will depend upon:

• the specific equipment at the practice
• if the piece of equipment is relevant to the team member’s role
• the education and training the team member has already completed.

Each member of the clinical team needs to identify their existing competence and training needs for each type of clinical equipment.

If the practice acquires a new piece or type of clinical equipment, it may need to provide relevant education.

All education and training need to be documented.

The practice could:

• include relevant education in the induction process
• facilitate ongoing education as needed
• keep a calendar, showing when refresher training is required.

The practice needs to have timely access to a spirometer. The practice could:

• maintain an on-site spirometer
• refer patients to a local provider that can offer timely testing.

Practices are strongly encouraged to have an on-site spirometer to support comprehensive and accessible respiratory care.

To ensure patients’ safe use of medicines, vaccines and other healthcare products, the practice needs to:

• store these products appropriately and securely,
• dispose of them in accordance with relevant local and federal laws
• do not use or distribute them after their expiry dates.

The practice could appoint a designated person to have primary responsibility for the proper storage, security and disposal of medicines, vaccines and other healthcare products.

To support safe disposal that is in accordance with relevant legislation and local arrangements, the practice could work with local pharmacies to facilitate the return and appropriate disposal of unwanted medicines.

Practices need to comply with all legislative requirements relating to the acquisition, use, storage and disposal of Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 medicines.

To effectively manage medical consumables, the practice could:

• schedule audits of expiry dates of medical consumables
• appoint a designated person to have primary responsibility for the management of medical consumables
• place consumables such as hand hygiene products so that those with an earlier expiry date are used first.

Practices need to demonstrate that either they have all required equipment listed in the criterion, or that the sites they work from have the equipment required to provide safe quality care for the patients being visited at those locations.

If the practice provides care only at external sites that maintain their own equipment, the practice may rely on the equipment at those sites, if there is documented evidence that the equipment is present, accessible, and maintained.

Practices that own or use a mobile clinic requiring examinations need to maintain their own equipment accordingly.