Operating theatre equipment

## Tables

An operating table is judged on what it can do under load: the articulation range, whether every section still holds position with a patient on it, and whether the hydraulics hold overnight rather than settling. Ask what the safe working load is and whether it has been tested, not quoted from a brochure.

Match the table to the surgery. A general table will not do orthopaedics or a full lithotomy list without the right attachments, and attachments are frequently missing from imported units.

## Lights

Modern surgical lighting is LED, and that changes the questions. Ask about colour temperature and shadow control rather than raw lux, and check the arm — the failure point on a theatre light is almost always the suspension, not the head.

Ceiling-mounted lighting is a structural install. We survey first.