RAHIM YAR KHAN: Poor patients visiting the Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) here suffer a lot whenever some vital equipment goes out of order and they are left at the mercy of private diagnostic centres for weeks and months and, sometimes, years.

When lone angiography machine of the cardiology department remained non-functional for over four weeks, patients had to pay up to Rs40,000 each for a procedure.

The 15-year old machine not only catered to heart patients of RYK but also benefited patients of neighbouring districts of Sindh and Balochistan. Generally, RYK is considered a “happy hunting ground” for doctors doing private practice since it attracts patients from Guddu, Kashmore, Sui, Dera Bugti and Ghotki.

New angiography machine installed

A senior doctor of the hospital, who did not want to be named, said apart from the angiography machine, some other radiology equipment had been rendered non-functional in the past at the behest of some senior staffers who had invested in private hospitals.

He said CT Scan and MRI machines faced similar issue some years ago, with hospital doctors referring patients to private health centres. He said on the protest of some patients, the SZMCH administration got repaired the MRI machine and installed a new ST Scan near the emergency building. He said the Color Doppler Ultrasound machine in the Radiology Department, Feco machine for eye operations and two digital machines in emergency OPD were also not working properly.

Another source in the hospital paramedics association said 15-year old angiography machine had completed its life after 10,000 procedures and now it was outdated. He said the machine which remained in constant use stopped working a few months back.

SZMCH focal person and Deputy Medical Superintendent Rana Ilyas Ahmed told Dawn that some parts of the 15-year old Siemens angiography machine remained out of service. He said the hospital had arranged its parts from Germany and now the machine had been functional since last week.

He said it was an achievement of the SZMCH that its angiography machine completed 303 procedures in one month and stood second in Punjab.

He said the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), Lahore, completed 369 procedures in one month with eight angiography machines.

He said a latest angiography machine, donated by Abu Dahbi ruler Shaikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Alnahyan, had been installed at the new cardiac centre in SZMCH. He said doctors had successfully completed first experimental procedure.

He said a team from Abu Dhabi would complete its final inspection in the first week of May before its formal handover to the Punjab government.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2024