Hospital equipment: CT scan machine in need of repair

The machine would be replaced or repaired in the next few days, says Ashraf.

FAISALABAD: An out of order CT scan machine at the Faisalabad divisional headquarters hospital has not been functional since December 2012, forcing patients to get tests done from private laboratories. The subsidised cost of a CT scan at the hospital is Rs1,500. For the same test, patients have to pay as much as Rs6,000 at private laboratories. Muhammad Naeem, a resident of Samundari Town, said he had taken his mother to the hospital’s emergency ward for a CT scan only to find out that the machine was ‘out of order.’ “I had to go to a private laboratory not far away from the main gate of the hospital,” he said. Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Ashraf said the hospital was facing ‘severe’ financial constraints. He said the machine would be replaced or repaired in the next few days.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2013.