A white elephant: CT scan machine lies idle at govt-run facility

Authorities choose not to use it, fearing low voltage or load-shedding will cause irreparable damage.

PESHAWAR:

The only CT scan machine at government-run Maulvi Jee Memorial Hospital in Hashtnagri has never been used since it was purchased two years ago.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government had earlier announced all out-of-order machines in government hospitals would be made functional, but the CT scan machine in question continues to lie idle.

An official at the hospital told The Express Tribune the machine is worth Rs30 million and was purchased in July 2011, but has been lying in the storeroom ever since. He said the machine needs uninterrupted power supply and high voltage – both of which the hospital does not have.



When the machine was initially purchased, the company told the hospital it will not be responsible for any damage caused due to voltage problems. “Due to low voltage and load-shedding, we are not in a position to take a risk and start operating the expensive machine,” said the official.

Patients in need of CT scans come to the hospital every day, but they need to be referred to other hospitals, he added.

Maulvi Jee Memorial Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Ali Chohan also reiterated the need for uninterrupted power supply to run the machine. “We cannot operate it as we are constantly faced with electricity outages and voltage fluctuations.

We have already informed the provincial government as well as the Peshawar Electric Supply Company about the problem, but no concrete results have emerged so far,” he said.



The PTI-led government has promised free health services, but it has failed to do so, claimed another official at the hospital. “Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai has announced in his speeches several times that all non-functional machines in government hospitals would be made functional for the public’s benefit, but a huge number of expensive machines still lie unused in storage rooms,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2013.