KARACHI, July 21: The CT scanner of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre has been out of order for more than a month, as a consequence, even the patients in need of an emergency scan are referred to other hospitals.

Talking to Dawn, JPMC's radiology department head Dr Tariq Mehmood acknowledged on Wednesday that the scanner had developed a fault on June 14. "But, we are on it and the machine is expected to get repaired in a week or so," he said.

He was of the opinion that the hospital should be equipped with two CT scanners. He added, "In case there is any fault with one of the scanners, the standby scanner could be pressed into service so that no inconvenience is caused to patients."

He said that one CT scanner cost about Rs30 million. For one CT scan, he added, the JPMC charged Rs1,000. Dr Mehmood said that the scanner's part, which had fused in the mid of June, was not readily available in the local market and had to be imported from Japan. "This is the main reason why there has been a delay in the machine's repair," he added.

He said special permission was required for a repair work involving a hefty amount. "We have to send all the details to the AGPR and finance department, which in itself caused considerable delay."

According to him, around 800 to 1,000 patients made use of the services offered by his department every day. "To deal with so many patients, we have 17 X-Ray units and 19 ultrasound machines. All the X-Ray and ultrasound machines are in order," he maintained.

The JPMC spokesman told this reporter that Dr Tariq Mehmood had sent a proposal to the health authorities for acquisition of an MRI machine. "A proposal dealing with the standby scanner can also be formulated and sent to the high-ups," he added.