Reducing Medical Equipment Downtime and Waste Using Lean Six Sigma Tools: A Case Study at Suhul Hospital, Shire

Abstract

Medical equipment downtime is a critical challenge in healthcare facilities, often caused by mechanical, electrical, and procedural failures, delays in reporting, and a lack of preventive maintenance. At Suhul Hospital Shire, these issues were compounded by human errors, outdated maintenance practices, limited standards, and unavailability of spare parts, resulting in prolonged equipment unavailability and compromised patient care. This study aimed to address these challenges by applying a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) approach, incorporating tools such as 5S practices, enhanced process mapping, corrective maintenance strategies, and a preventive maintenance plan. A mixed-methods research design was employed, using document reviews and semi-structured interviews with 18 purposively selected professionals (minimum diploma and 4 years of relevant experience). Quantitative data assessed metrics like downtime and defect frequency, while qualitative data explored root causes and waste in processes. The implementation of Lean Six Sigma led to a dramatic reduction in equipment downtime from 89,735 minutes to 292 minutes and a decrease in defects from 842 to 43. Defect causes were also reduced from 12 to 5. Overall, downtime was cut by 99.34%, defects by 90.28%, and the Sigma level improved from 2.74 (low quality) to 3.62 (moderate quality). These findings highlight the practical and managerial potential of Lean Six Sigma to enhance the efficiency and reliability of medical equipment maintenance in resource-constrained healthcare settings. However, the study was limited to one hospital, suggesting the need for future research across multiple facilities to validate and generalize these results.