RAWALPINDI: Six months after it was installed, the CT scan machine at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) developed faults, which means patients have to get their tests done at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital or at private clinics.

The Punjab government provided the machine to the hospital at a cost of Rs50 million. Before this, the machine broke down in Dec 2011 but funds for a new one were only released last year.

The facility to conduct a CT scan was only available at the DHQ Hospital and the other two government hospitals did not have the machines.

BBH managed to install a machine in Dec2016 but patients are now being referred to other hospitals again since the new machine has developed faults.

A senior radiologist at BBH told Dawn the machine was overburdened and conducted more than 200 tests a day. He said machines should also be installed at other government hospitals so the burden on them is reduced.

In the absence of basic health machines, patients have had to spend more money on tests at private clinics.

Officials at government run hospitals said private laboratories, hospitals and clinics were charging Rs9,000 for a simple CT scan and Rs10,000 for a contrast CT scan. Government hospitals charge patients Rs1,600 for a plaint CT scan and Rs2,800 for a contrast one, when the machines are working.`BBH is the second largest healthcare centre in the city with over 500 beds and we need a CT scan machine urgently,` a senior doctor at the hospital said, adding that BBH doctors refer more than 200 patients every month to the DHQ Hospital.

BBH Medical Superintendent Dr Arshad Ali Sabir said there were problems with the machine`s software and the company concerned has been asked to repair it.

He said the machines was purchased with funds from the Punjab government and that according to the agreement, the supplier is responsible for training hospital staf f in operating the machine and the construction work needed for the installation of the equipment.

He added that the administration had made sure the company gave a two years` warranty with spare parts.