Doctors add that the hospital's Orthopaedic OPD sees 120-130 patients every day. Of these, at least 20 of them require surgeries of some kind and four to five patients require surgeries that need a C-arm machine.
Bhanwari Devi, 42, has been visiting Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital for the last few weeks waiting to get her hip surgery, but so far it has all been in vain. The woman who fell from the stairs at her home in Seelampur has been on a waiting list for over three weeks now, as the C-arm machine, essential for her surgery, is not available.
Bhanwari is just one of the many patients that are suffering due to the lack of non-functioning machines at GTB hospital. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior doctor in the Orthopaedic Department confirmed that both the C-arm machines had not been working for the past one year. One had been repaired recently, but it keeps breaking down since it is almost 10 years old. Given that the life of C-arm machine is seven to eight years this is no surprise.
Doctors add that the hospital's Orthopaedic OPD sees 120-130 patients every day. Of these, at least 20 of them require surgeries of some kind and four to five patients require surgeries that need a C-arm machine.
Earlier, the hospital had been referring its Orthopaedic surgery patients to other hospitals but after the old machine was "made working" on paper GTB has stopped doing so. The result: the patient backlog is ever increasing.
However, when contacted, GTB's director, Dr Sunil Kumar, denied the non-functionality of the machines and said, "The machines were not working earlier but we have got them repaired after getting a component from Italy. Both the machines are up and running." But when this reporter asked to see the machines, he refused to show them.
Hospital sources say that the Laproscopy machine, among other machines, is also 12 years old and keeps breaking down.
What is a C-arm machine?
C-arm machines are often used for intra-operative imaging i.e. they provide X-ray images of body parts in high resolution thus helping the surgeon perform surgeries of parts which are not visible due to curves such as bones and joints.
Analysis
A person requiring orthopaedic surgery may suffer further, as most of the C-arm machines in govt hospitals have either broken down or are not working properly. Apart from GTB, the only C-arm machine at Lok Nayak Hospital also keeps breaking down.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "DNA")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}