SOLD BY: AN APPRAISAL OF BUILDING MAINTENANCE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC HOSPITAL IN NIGERIA
(A CASE ON FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTRE, BIDA)
ABSTRACT
The study appraised
the state of building maintenance practice of Federal Medical Centre
Bida and in the process identified the significant difference(s) in the
factors affecting building maintenance practice between the maintenance
staff related factor and users factor within the study area. In
achieving the objective, the study adopted non probability research
technique using questionnaire as data instrument. A total of 41
questionnaires comprising 14 for the maintenance staff; 27 for the users
of Federal Medical Centre Bida were collected and use for the study.
Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings
of the study revealed that state of maintenance of Federal Medical
Centre Bida buildings/services are found to be above average in
performance. The hypothesis revealed that there is significant
difference in the factors affecting building maintenance practice
between the maintenance staff related factor and users’ factor. Base on
the results, the study recommends that a viable preventive and planned
maintenance schedules that covers all major components /services should
be prepared, followed up after installation for proper functioning of
the maintenance practice in the hospital should not be exceeded,
Political factors and corruption should be properly checked on its
effect on maintenance practice, Inadequacy of maintenance staff and
training for maintenance staff should be strictly treated in the unit
because this exposes the maintenance practice of this hospital to be
inactive and render inexistence in the maintenance department. So,
provision of technical expertise maintenance staffs should be engage,
the method of maintenance practice by the maintenance department should
be formulated in such a way that out sourcing and in house crew system
should be in a ratio of 40: 60 since the staffs that are technically
experience were very scares in the department to improve the maintenance
practice work and the level of motivation should be improved or well
motivated in order to deliver their best during the maintenance work
execution.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
With time, all structure
deteriorates toward a state of unserviceability and disintegrates.
Maintenance is mainly to preserve buildings in their original
functional, structural and aesthetic states so that they continue to
remain as such and retain their assetworth over a long period of
existence. Maintenance is an art and means of controlling the rate at
which they do so (Smith, 2003).”Government owned hospitals are
threatened with unique challenges that terrify their existence. This
deficiency might also be found to begin from the institution’s inherent
government structure which promotes disorganizations and control through
the bother to operational efficiency in maintenance practice.
“Leong (2009), make it known
that housing is a most important factor impacting on the health,
safety, socio-economic and political life of the occupants. In fact it
impacts all aspect of human endeavour. Thus, the state of housing and
its environment is an indicator of the level of maintenance development,
condition on buildings and state of the community.”
Recent studies have shown that most
public hospital facilities are as old as the hospital and even older
than many workers working in the hospital.“For example, Onifade (2003),
installed health facilities in Nigeria are as old as the hospital date
of establishment or themselves, Federal Medical Centre might be of no
exclusion.”Some of the medical equipment’s in public hospitals in
Nigeria are not put in to service and need complete replacement.
“Shoket (2003), state that,
performance of hospital buildings and their components depends on to a
greatmeasure on constant and planned penodical maintenance. In history,
in both public and private sectors hospital, maintenance is seen as an
unnecessary task which is supposed as adding little to the quality of
the working environment and expending scare resources which would be
better utilized (Higher Education Backlog Maintenance Review, 1998).”
“There are things to be done
and put in place at the design stage to reduce the amount and rate of
subsequent maintenance work, all building element depreciate in their
strength and stability at a greater or less rate depending on method of
construction, materials, age, environmental conditions, usage of
building and methods of design and management of the building (Faremi
and Adenuga, 2012). The character and structure of a public hospital is
established that they lack the potency and competence to compete in a
promotemotivated economy in the country or in each state (Iyagba,
2005).”
“In Nigeria, as revealed by
Iyagba and Adenuga (2005), public buildings are in poor terrible
conditions of structural and decorative bad shape. In spite of millions
of Naira spent to construct all these buildings, they are left as soon
as commissioned to face early but steady and repair deterioration, decay
and dilapidation.”There is need to appraise the existence of
maintenance in public hospital building and services in order to improve
their standard if needed for effective health care functioning and
standard.
So many questions have been
asked before, how many times have peopled not postponed planned and
programmed maintenance? “In respect to Bnaful (2004), the financial
penalty of neglecting maintenance is often not seen in terms of reduce
asset life and early replacement but also in cased operating cost and
waste of related and natural and financial resources.”Maintenance of an
hospital buildings is one of the difficult subjects in the field of
facilities management.”For example Shohet (2005), concluded that
contributing to this is the complex nature of hospital buildings
mechanical, electrical system and inadequate maintenance budget.”
“Nous Hospital Consultants
(2002), regarded an hospital as not a mere building, but a composite
social institution, composed of many groups in place of a wide variety
of interests and diverse needs that utilise the services of different
medical, paramedical and support personnel to render all needed health
care to the patients in its custody.” It employs a wide variety of
modern technologies and engineering services to support the process of
healthcare using various biological, pharmaceutical, chemical and death
situations during the process of rendering healthcare moreover,
supporting the evaluation of the user’s needs in order to attain better
condition for them, Barrett (1995), suggested that using a post
occupancy evaluation as a managerial aid is better for use.”
Since maintenance prime aim
is to protect buildings in their initial functional, structural and
aesthetic states so that they continue to remain as such and retain
their investment value over a long period of existence, it is therefore
necessitated by deterioration of the materials and components of
building(s) and its environment. It is the works undertaken in order to
keep or restore every part of the building(s), its contents and its
environment in an acceptable standard or condition.“This includes but
not limited to the carrying out regular repairs of works and the
replacement of items in buildings and its environment that are in
deplorable conditions (Jolaoso et al, 2012).”
Therefore, the principal
preposition of this study is to investigate the state of maintenance
practice of Federal Medical Centre, Bida.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
“Most of the hospital buildings
are in terrible conditions of structural and decorative bad shape
andmany public hospital structures are often inadequately maintained and
roofs, walls, foundation and other building elements and facilities
frequently show evidence of lack of maintenance and repair. Series of
research have been carried out on factors responsible for the poor
maintenance management practice of public, private hospitals, housing
estatesbut only littleinteresthas been given to the appraisal of
building maintenance practices to be adopted in the implementation of
maintenance programmes for hospital buildings. Based on research,
absence of maintenance by the instituting and occupants of these
facilities often leads to reduction in the lifespan of these buildings
(Melvin, 1992); there is therefore a need to establish measures, factors
and evaluate the strategies for building maintenance practice of
hospital buildings using appropriate maintenance analysis.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION
- What is the physical state of Federal Medical Centre buildings in Bida?
- What is the correlation between the maintenance practice and the maintenance staff, users of the hospital building?
- Has any maintenance work been carried out in this hospital?
- Is there any usage of maintenance plan/manual in this hospital?
- How often has maintenance work been carried out?
- What are the types of maintenance activities been adopted in this hospital?
- What are the factors affecting maintenance practice?
1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
“The major aim for the purpose
of this study is to investigate the state of maintenance management of
Federal Medical Centre buildings in Bida.
The objectives for the purpose of this study are;
- To examine the physical functional condition of hospital buildings.
- To examine the maintenance practices of the hospital.
- To suggest measures for an effective building maintenance practice of the hospital buildings.”
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
H0: There is no significant
difference in the perception of maintenance staff and users as to the
factor affecting maintenance practice of Federal Medical Centre Bida.
H1: There is significant
difference in the perception of maintenance staff and users as to the
factor affecting maintenance practice of Federal Medical Centre Bida.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
“Due to numbers of public hospitals in
Nigeria, this project proposal will cover only the Federal Medical
Centre Bida in Niger state, Nigeria.It will examine the maintenance of
all the public hospital sections and quarters of Federal Medical Centre
Bida, Niger state.”
1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
“With this approach to be use
in this study, the hospital building maintenance managers and
maintenance staff will be able to have a better understanding of the
building maintenance problem and formulate policies to guide their
operation from strategy to performance evaluation. This study will also
help in checkmating how the maintenance process by planning, scheduling,
execution, analysing and improvement on how treat the maintenance
practice problem and weaknesses in the hospital buildings.”
“Leong (2009), further revealed
that housing is a major factor impacting on the health, safety,
socio-economic and political life of the occupants. The orientation for
the users is not left behind for this study in enlightening their level
of maintenance practice on their health, safety, socio-economic life.
Nevertheless this study will also create awareness on the need for
effective maintenance management with our public hospital environment.”
1.8 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
This study will give an
appraisal on building maintenance practice in public hospitals in
Nigeria. It is important to note that despite the trend of maintenance
in or public hospitals, most of the users and some maintenance manager
do not understand the ways and plan to practice the maintenance
management. Under normal circumstances, after the construction of a
building, maintenance management practice follows because it’s the
number two factors to a constructed building.
It’s thus leaving me the
searcher for the possible reasons behind the maintenance practice not
performing as expected. This research will direct a ways of improving
the use better maintenance practice for impacting our public hospitals
and make its element contribution to the other organization maintenance
structure.
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