Planned preventative maintenance (PPM) looks orderly on paper: a device, a set of manufacturer's instructions, and a date by which the work is due. The complexity arrives with scale. A service firm covering several customers can end up responsible for hundreds of device models across wards, clinics, and sites, each with its own instructions.
The MHRA's Managing Medical Devices guidance describes what good maintenance looks like. This checklist shows how a field service management approach can turn it into a schedule, a set of job templates, and a record that holds up.
A PPM programme brings together a record for every device, a schedule built from the manufacturer's instructions, a consistent set of checks on each visit, and an updated record afterwards. The MHRA guidance says the frequency and type of PPM should follow the manufacturer's instructions and reflect expected use and the environment the device works in. The steps below take each element in turn.
Every schedule hangs from an asset record. The guidance says a device record should hold a unique identifier, the device's history from purchase to installation, the schedule and details of maintenance and repairs, and an end-of-life date where one is specified. It also advises keeping records in one system where possible and updating them after each PPM visit.
In field service terms, each device exists once, linked to its customer, site, location, and contract, with every job attached to it. An engineer opening tomorrow's visit can then read the findings from the last one before setting off.
Large estates mean many different intervals running side by side under one contract. The practical answer is to attach a recurrence pattern to each device model, so adding a device to a contract generates its PPM visits automatically. Grouping visits by site keeps travel down. A batch scheduler can re-sequence a whole week when priorities shift, while appointment booking handles the reactive work that lands in between.
The guidance adds that where other legislation applies, such as lifting equipment rules, those tests are carried out in addition to manufacturer-recommended maintenance. Give them their own entries in the schedule so neither is mistaken for the other.
The guidance says only adequately trained staff should maintain or repair devices, and that providers should be able to show written, up-to-date evidence of that training. Field service software can record each engineer's competencies against device types, so scheduling offers only qualified people for a given job and the evidence trail builds as the work is done.
Turn the guidance checklist into a job template
The guidance includes a PPM checklist that maps neatly onto the order of an engineer's visit. On a digital form, each stage becomes a required section, so the job cannot be closed until it is complete:
Because every manufacturer's instructions differ, one generic form rarely fits. A no-code platform lets you build a template for each device model or family, then edit it when the instructions change, without waiting for a software release.
For electrical safety, the MHRA points to BS EN 62353 for recurrent tests and tests after repair. It has not been designated under the UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002, but the MHRA describes it as best practice. The form should capture the readings themselves, the result, and the instrument used, rather than a single tick, because the guidance expects test equipment to be maintained and calibrated. It also notes that baseline values taken when a device was new help to reveal drift over time, so showing the previous reading beside the current one gives the engineer something to compare against on site.
Parts are the first detail to slip across a big estate. The guidance says organisations should be able to identify every part replaced during maintenance and trace critical parts to their supplier, which is simpler when parts are logged against the job at the time.
Instruction changes come next. Providers should be alerted to changes in manufacturers' maintenance instructions and to Field Safety Notices. Editing a form template once means every future visit uses the updated version.
Contracts tie the rest together. The guidance says service contracts should specify the level and type of service required, reference manufacturer instructions, and cover areas such as spare parts, record keeping, and response times. Linking each contract to its devices keeps those terms in view when a PPM job opens.
If you would like to see how your own checklists, schedules, and device records would look in practice, bring a device model or two to a Solarvista demo. We will show you how our unique 2-in-1 field service management system and no-code application platform would handle them.