Hyderabad: An MRI machine at the state-run Gandhi Hospital, one of the only government hospitals in the city, along with Osmania and MNJ Cancer Hospital, is lying defunct and locked in a room for over two months. With the MRI facility being off bounds for hundreds of patients, the footfall for getting an MRI scan done at Osmania General Hospital (OGH), has increased.
There is a waiting period of 30-45 days to get an MRI at Gandhi Hospital and the list hovers around 200 to 250 people at any given point of time, as per insiders. While most patients are now redirected to OGH, emergency patients and in patients are taken on a priority basis. According to hospital authorities, the waiting period for in patients is three to four days.
Bhaskar Rao, a patient who had suffered a spinal injury over a month back and was redirected to OGH said, “I first went to Gandhi Hospital where I was asked to wait for 15 days. I was later referred to OGH. I had to waste another 15 days there and finally got my MRI done from a private diagnostic centre in Shamshabad, as the pain was increasing day by day.”
An MRI scan is required for neurological patients (MRI brain), orthopaedic cases (MRI of spine, lumbar region) and road accident cases. “We redirect patients to OGH and refer Aarogyasri patients to private clinics if the cost fits in the Aarogyasri package. The service contractor at Gandhi — Faber Sindoori Bio-Medical Engineering Services — is not conducting the repairs needed and is causing inconvenience to hundreds of patients in the process. We have taken up the issue with the government many times but there has been no action,” said Dr P Shravan Kumar, superintendent Gandhi Hospital.