The hospital authorities say that they are helpless, as despite reminders to the heath department the requirement of an MRI machine has gone unheard.
Madho Rao, 50, has been running from pillar to post at the Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, one of city's biggest state-run hospitals, looking for a way to get his Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) form signed, on Tuesday. He came to the hospital with a severe stomach pain and is advised MRI by a doctor, who is aware that the MRI machine is not functional.
"It is really embarrassing to tell people that despite being one of the main state-run hospitals equipped in performing critical surgeries, we do not have a functional MRI machine," says a senior radiologist. "Earlier we used to do at least 50 MRIs a day, now with the machine gone, we are sending 10 patients to our associate hospital, Lok Nayak, where there is already an overburden of patients," he said.
Since the Kejriwal government made all the radiology tests free for Delhiites, the rush at the government radiology departments has quadrupled. For the critical or admitted patients, the hospital is managing with the only machine on 'sharing' basis with Lok Nayak.
The hospital authorities say that they are helpless, as despite reminders to the heath department the requirement of an MRI machine has gone unheard.
"We have written to the state Health Department four times asking for replacement of a defunct MRI machine but there has been no action yet," says the radiologist further. "This is not only affecting the reputation of the hospital but manpower as well. Fewer radiologists want to come to GB Pant now for their practice, which used to their first choice," senior radiologist said.
And analysis
Patients are at the loss as the doctors at the state-run hospital despite knowing that machines are not working still ask them to do the tests.
Now that Kejriwal government has said radiology tests are free the doctors can ask the patients to get the tests done at the other hospitals
Upgraded version
The hospital had a 1.5 Tesla MRI, which cost around Rs 6 crore, and was functional for over 14 years before it stopped working in February 2016.
For the 80% tests done on the machine, the hospital used to charge 2,500-3,000 to patients. The government earned Rs 30 crores in 14 years from the machine
GB Pant currently requires a 3 Tesla machine, which would cost around Rs14-16 cr
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