Several patients at Gandhi Hospital had to put through an excruciatingly long wait to undergo diagnosis, using CT Scan machine on Sunday. The reason for the inordinate delay was quite strange — several hours were taken to disinfect the diagnosis room after performing a scanning on the 24-year-old COVID-19 positive patient admitted to the hospital.
The situation brings to fore the pending request for at least one more CT Scan machine and other critical diagnosis equipment. The hospital has two CT Scan machines. However, one among them has been under repair for over a month.
“A lot of time was taken to carry out the disinfection of the diagnosis room. Other patients had to wait for their turn. How would you feel if you are made to wait for several hours? Why do poor patients have to put up with such delays? The situation might arise again as the COVID-19 positive patient and several suspects of the infection are still admitted here,” sources in know of things said, adding there is need for repair to the existing machine or to buy a new one.
As the State-run tertiary care hospital has been under, and would remain the centre of focus in the coming days, doctors hoped that the government will address long pending need for additional diagnostic equipment. They are hoping that a part of the ₹ 100-crore temporary fund approved by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao would be allotted for the purpose.
“The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine is 13 years old and not functioning efficiently. A new one is needed. Besides, at least five more 2D echo machines are required as some of the machines are not working,” sources stressed.
Superintendent of the hospital Dr P Shravan Kumar could not be reached over phone as he went to Kerala as part of the 12-member team to study containment and prevention of COVID-19.
Officials from the State Health department on condition of anonymity acknowledged the need for more diagnosis machines. “The workload on the machines is phenomenal. There is need for at least two more CT Scanning machines. The government is contemplating to provide them. Tender process would take time,” said the official.