Does My Equipment Need To Be Serviced by the Manufacturer?

Patient Handling Equipment Under Warranty

As with any patient handling equipment, your care environment seeks to optimise the equipment’s safety and compliance for both the service user and your care staff. The manufacturer’s standard warranty will come with every asset, patient handling equipment which guarantees its repair and replacement.

Many manufacturers of patient handling equipment will offer service and maintenance on the equipment as a part of the sales package. In some cases, manufacturers can include an absolute clause that states that they will only honour the equipment’s warranty when the equipment is serviced and maintained by the company themselves.

When this is the case, it may be best to stick with your manufacturer for the service and maintenance of your equipment for the duration of the warranty period.

Pros to Using Your Manufacturer for Service and Maintenance

Within the given warranty period of patient handling equipment, it is less likely that problems with the equipment will rise. However, there is peace of mind when opting to work with the equipment’s manufacturer for the service and maintenance of your care equipment, as you know within the warranty time, your equipment will be covered should it need repair or replacing by the manufacturer.

Cons to Using Your Manufacturer for Service and Maintenance

As previously mentioned, many manufacturers will offer a package of service and maintenance with the sale of their patient handling equipment. However, you can often find the cost of having your equipment serviced by the manufacturer can come at a higher rate. The higher rate of cost can often comes down to the fact that they have the liberty to be less competitive as they are your direct provider.

Third-Party Service and Maintenance Providers

When your Care Home, Special School or Hospital is in the market for a service and maintenance provider for your patient handling equipment, there are many options available and knowing who to work with can be a difficult decision to make.

When searching for a provider to partner with it is important to keep in mind what type of patient handling equipment the service and maintenance provider specialises in. i.e. Will the company you choose be a competent third party to thoroughly inspect all of your equipment, fault find/diagnose and be able to offer your care facility the repair or replacement as and when needed?

Many care facilities also believe using their Passenger Lift Provider for Their Patient Handling Equipment Servicing is a good way to save on costs. Click this link to read more about the subject.

Making this consideration can help your facility better ensure you are working with experienced professionals who can provide you with quality work and peace of mind.

Pros to Using a Third-Party Service and Maintenance Provider

Occasionally, Care Homes, Special Schools and Hospitals believe they can only work with the manufacturer within the warranty period of their patient handling equipment, but this is not necessarily true. Although there can be added guarantees when doing so, there are third party providers that have long-standing relationships with top manufacturers and are trusted sources to service and maintain your care equipment. Here are some pros to working with an independent provider:

Some Providers Can Honour Your Equipment’s Warranty

Many service and maintenance providers have extensive experience in the field of patient handling equipment and often come with the backing of the manufacturer’s equipment they supply. You can often find when your equipment is within warranty, your third-party provider can honour your equipment’s warranty on a case by case basis.

Cost Savings

When it comes to the cost of a third-party service and maintenance provider, you will often find their prices to be much more competitive than the manufacturer themselves. An independent provider often has the capacity to service the whole range of your patient handling equipment and therefore has access to a wider selection of spare parts and replacement equipment. This flexibility of care and accessibility to equipment and spare parts allows the third party to give you rates that are reflective of economies of scale, meaning your care facility can benefit from a lower unit cost per item.

Quality Supply of Parts

All independent patient handling equipment service and maintenance providers will abide by MHRA regulations (Medical Health Regulatory Authority) and should offer the option to supply and fit OEM parts when servicing your equipment. OEM parts are the Original Equipment Manufactured parts, which helps to further certify the quality of replacement parts they use.

Conversely, for service parts, the independent third party can sometimes provide alternative parts that are not OEM. Reasons your provider may choose to do so are as follows:

• The part’s specification is equivalent or superior to the OEM part
• Your partnering provider is fitting non-safety critical parts like batteries or handsets
• They are able to source parts that will offer cost savings that can be passed on to you
• When there are supply chain issues and your partnering provider can help sort parts more efficiently