ABSTRACT
(Summary of findings and recommendations) - The Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has been experiencing the problem of non-functioning medical equipment. A lot of medical equipment breakdown in every department to such an extent that the Hospital staff has realised that most of the Departments complain of having equipment which are non-functioning. This problem is so severe that it affects their role in providing health care delivery services to patients. The main objective of this study was to identify factors which led to non-functioning of medical equipment at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in order to make recommendations for improvements to the management; users; and the Ministry of Health. The study was carried out in fifty (50) departments of the Parirenyatwa Group of Hosptials which were identified according to their different functions and services they provide to the patients. The study was mainly descriptive with quantitative and qualitative elements. Information on functioning and non-functioning medical equipment was obtained from the users. An inventory on both functioning and non-functioning medical equipment for each department was first carried out. From; this inventory; a random sample of two (2) functioning medical equipment and three (3) non-functioning medical equipment was done for each department. A total of one hundred (100) and one hundred and fifty (150) functioning and non-functioning medical equipment respectively; was obtained. Furthermore information was obtained from five (5) Hospital Equipment Technicians and four (4) purchasers who were interviewed using structured questionnnaires