Maintenance inventory management in the healthcare facilities in Sri Lanka: a study on current issues and possible improvements

Abstract

Effective inventory management in any organisation is essential as it aids in keeping organisational resources under control while managing time and expenses to enable efficient operations of facilities. Inventory management in maintenance management is crucial as this service is found to be essential to streamline maintenance management activities effectively. However, maintenance management in healthcare facilities is considered a top critical function as it has to maintain and ensure patients' quality of life and life safety. Hence, to have smooth maintenance management, well-performing maintenance inventory management is required. Accordingly, this study aims to evaluate current maintenance inventory management practices in healthcare facilities in Sri Lanka to uplift the practices by identifying the current context. A qualitative research approach was adopted. The three case studies were conducted with semi-structured interviews with three professionals in healthcare facilities. The findings of case studies present existing issues in maintenance inventory management such as unpredictable demand, high administrative expenses, lack of awareness of inventory handling, lack of support from management, hiding slow-moving items, and quality issues. The study will emphasise the possible improvements that can be implemented to overcome those identified issues, particularly for healthcare facilities.