LAHORE: MRI and CT machines are out of order in several hospitals in the city, causing inconvenience and in some cases serious delays in conducting diagnostic tests on seriously ill patients.
The MRI machine at the Children’s Hospital in Lahore has been out of service for three weeks. Children who need an MRI must either go to private labs or face delays. The main office of the Children’s Hospital has also been out of service for a week.
Meanwhile, CT scanners at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Mayo Hospital, Lahore General Hospital and Nawaz Sharif Hospital Yakki Gate are also out of order. According to sources, angiography and angioplasty procedures have been suspended in the cardiac surgery department of Jinnah Hospital Lahore for the past two months. They informed that the hospital pharmacy has stopped supplying angiography and angioplasty materials to the cardiology department due to pending payments. “The patients are being referred to Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) for cardiac surgeries,” they informed. Spokespersons of these hospitals said that the machines are being repaired and will be functional in a day or two to resume diagnostic services. However, JHL medical superintendent Dr Kashif Jahangir dismissed the claim that angiography and angioplasty procedures are suspended as false propaganda.
