Costly equipment gathering dust in Government hospitals: CAG report

Bengaluru, 2016: High-end expensive medical equipment procured by major State-run hospitals in Karnataka are lying unused for years either because there are no technicians to handle them or because they have not obtained the statutory compliance from the authorities concerned. This has made it inevitable for patients to depend on private hospitals for diagnostic facilities.

The recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on general and social sector pointed out that although a majority of the hospitals had scanners, X-ray machines, treadmill, echocardiogram and other diagnostic facilities, they are not being put to use because the technicians to run these machines have not been appointed.

Most of the 29 hospitals test-checked by the audit team, - six district and six teaching hospitals, two super-specialty hospitals and 15 general hospitals - had not obtained statutory compliance from Fire Services authorities, Atomic Energy Regulation Board (AERB) for X-ray and CT scan units, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board for biomedical waste management, Excise Department for storing spirit and narcotic drugs, and Karnataka State Drugs Control Department for licence to run blood banks.

According to the audit, while all the hospitals test-checked had X-ray and ultrasound scanner facilities, 18 of the 49 x-ray machines in 11 hospitals were not functional. In eight hospitals, nine of the 14 ultrasound scanners were not functional. These included two scanners that remained uninstalled in general hospitals of Nanjangud and Chincholi, and three scanners in Hiriyur General Hospital, Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences, and Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hubballi that had been installed but not put to use.

This apart, in three hospitals - Vijayapura District Hospital, Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences and KIMS Hubballi, the ultrasound scanners are lying idle for want of a radiologist.

CT scanners that are mandatory for district and teaching hospitals have not been installed in seven hospitals. Spiral CT installed in Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences in November 2014 is awaiting clearance from the AERB.

Minister of State for Medical Education Sharan Prakash R. Patil, who said he was yet to read the CAG findings in detail and that he would seek an explanation from the hospitals. "It is the duty of the hospital authorities to obtain permits and appoint technicians to run the equipment if they have been installed. We will take action at the earliest to ensure patients are not deprived of these high-end diagnostic facilities," he said. The Hindu.