June 14, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

NAWABSHAH, June 13: The Nawabshah Medical College Hospital is referring most of seriously injured people and patients suffering from chronic diseases to hospitals in nearby cities as its CT Scan machine has been out of order for last two months.

The hospital refers emergency cases of accidents, neurosurgery, unconscious patients of eyes, nose and throat, surgery and medicine wards to Hyderabad and Karachi for the necessary test.

The million of rupees worth machine, installed in the NMC hospital in 1997, stopped functioning after its scanning tube burnt, which was not available in the country and was not covered by an annual maintenance contract the hospital had signed with the company for Rs1 million a year.

The tube cost about Rs5 million in the international market but the health department could get it at cheaper rates. Sources in the hospital said on Wednesday that the tube was worth about $70,000 but the hospital administration would have to pay only $37,000 which came to Rs2.250 million without taxes.

The hospital’s medical superintendent Dr. Mohammed Ali Sirewal said that they had already placed the order after informing the health secretary. The funds raised through the machine were available and an amount of Rs2.250 million had already been sent to the company, he added.

He said that the company, which installed the machine, was also responsible for its maintenance but it excluded the tube from the agreement, which would reach the hospital from Japan in 4-6 weeks.

Dr. Shams Raza Brohi, Assistant Prof and head of the Department of Neurosurgery Ward said that the hospital was daily receiving an average of 10-15 CT scan cases, most of them serious. He could not reach a definite diagnosis without a CT scan and was forced to refer his patients to other cities, he said.

A senior doctor said while requesting anonymity that most of the patients who arrived in hospital in critical condition had to be moved to Hyderabad to get their CT scan tests. This wastes precious time which could be crucial in most cases, he said.

Source said that a new CT Scan machine would arrive in the NMCH within 15 days and a new MRI machine would also be installed in the hospital within a fortnight.