Hospitals have generators, but do they have procedures? NIK points out errors

Although all inspected hospitals have power generators and most of them ensure uninterrupted energy supply, some of them lack reliable servicing, up-to-date procedures and required operating instructions – according to the Supreme Audit Office's inspection of several hospitals.

NIK auditors checked 15 public hospitals of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree of the health care services provision system in five voivodeships. The Chamber wanted to know whether health care facilities are prepared to provide uninterrupted medical services in the event of a lack of electricity supply from external sources. The audit covered the years 2023–2024.

NIK pointed out that although all the inspected facilities have power generators, and most of them protect key systems with UPS power supply, i.e. uninterrupted energy supply, some of them lack reliable servicing, up-to-date procedures and required operating instructions.

The Chamber reminded that hospitals are obliged to have their own source of electricity in the form of generators with a power sufficient to cover at least 30%. their needs. In addition, key medical systems and devices include: The equipment of operating theaters and intensive care units should also be provided with uninterrupted power supply until it is taken over by the generator.

The audited hospitals are located in the West Pomeranian, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Lower Silesian, Silesian and Podkarpackie voivodeships. As shown by the Supreme Audit Office's audit, which was carried out by the Supreme Audit Office's Branch in Katowice, with the participation of the Branch Offices in Bydgoszcz, Rzeszów, Szczecin and Wrocław, all the inspected facilities had appropriate generators, of which seven had generators with a power higher than the total electricity demand of the hospital.

“Only in two hospitals, in individual buildings of departments located outside the headquarters, there were older generation generators with sufficient power, but without the auto-start function, which was inconsistent with applicable regulations and extended the time when the generator took over the power supply, and therefore also the time during which the departments were deprived of electricity supply,” we read in the study by the Chamber.

NIK reported that 13 out of 15 audited hospitals also had UPS power supplies ensuring uninterrupted power supply to key hospital systems and equipment, maintaining the supply of electricity until the power supply was taken over by the generator and protecting against voltage surges.

“Only two facilities did not meet these requirements, as a result of which their therapy or diagnostic devices did not provide protection against voltage loss or sudden changes, which could have an impact on patient safety,” it was written.

“Lack of reliable servicing” endangers patients

According to the Chamber, the power generators and UPS devices were “functional at the time of the inspection, but the hospitals did not ensure their reliable and timely servicing, especially those generators whose operation requires strict compliance with the manufacturer's recommendations contained in the technical and operational documentation.” As the Supreme Audit Office wrote, this concerned in particular the incomplete fulfillment of the obligation of hospitals to carry out trial runs of power generators.

In addition, some medical devices and equipment were additionally equipped with their own power supply source. “The maintenance and servicing of these devices was generally carried out correctly, although in the seven audited hospitals there were delays in carrying out technical inspections and some servicing activities, and the technical documentation of the devices was kept unreliably,” emphasized the information after the Supreme Audit Office's inspection.

Almost all inspected hospitals also developed and implemented procedures in the event of a sudden loss of electricity supply from external sources, however, in three facilities they were not complete and in three more they required updating.. In the only hospital that was not procedurally prepared for a sudden power loss, work on an action plan in such a case began before the end of the Supreme Audit Office's audit.

The inspection showed that most hospitals did not develop operating instructions for energy equipment. The directors of eight institutions did not fulfill this obligation, and in two more it did not cover all the required elements. (PAP)

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