Fitting used spare parts

[Chris Bates]

How many of you use parts from decommissioned machines to repair current machines ?

We have used quite a few less critical parts from scrapped machines to repair our oldest machines.

The MHRA guidance says:

8.6.2 Reusing spare parts
Under normal circumstances, pre-used parts should not be used to repair a device. They may be acceptable in exceptional circumstances after a fully documented risk assessment.
The stresses and strains that the part has undergone will depend on many factors, such as: the length of time in service, age and repair or maintenance history. Pre-used parts may therefore increase the need for maintenance checks or reduce the overall life cycle of the device.
The failure of a part can have severe consequences for the end user. The part should not be reused if its previous history is unknown.

We have a risk assessment in place. " Exceptional circumstances" are lack of funds to replace old machines and limited spares budget. I am uncomfortable doing it but we have saved a lot of money. We avoid re-using certain critical parts like level and air/blood detectors

[Ian Wilde]

We use them all the time Chris - obviously what your fitting has to be in better condition than what you're replacing!

We try to use new parts only in our community machines simply because of the inconvenience to the patient if it should fail sooner than expected.  

With the in-centre machines it has never caused a problem and no one has ever lost any dialysis time that could be accredited to a "preloved" part being fitted.

MHRA are obviously not at the sharp end of a budget being obliterated by over priced spare parts.  In theory I'd use new parts every time but in the real world it doesn't quite work like that.

[fraser gilmour]

I don't have a problem with using reclaimed parts. We check the history of machines that are being decommissioned and remove parts that have been fitted during the machines lifetime that still have some mileage in them.
If we use these parts to repair a machine it gets recorded with the part number and suffix RP to keep track.

Provided it's an authentic part I don't see how moving it from one machine to another creates a risk.

[John Moore]

I've done this for years Chris and fully agree with the comments from Ian and Fraser. So long as you document what you're doing and exercise some common sense from a safety point of view I can't see a problem. It's also very often a quick way of getting equipment back into service without having to wait for parts.

[Chris Bates]

Thanks for your responses.
We too have been doing it for years.
I assumed we weren't alone, but you know what the say about assuming.