Bir CT scan down since three months

KATHMANDU, Aug 30: Patients at Bir Hospital have been suffering as the CT scan machine at the hospital remains unrepaired since the past three months.

The hospital is currently sending patients requiring CT scan outside, where the cost is over 50% higher. Doctors refer to the scans to assess the suceess of treatment apart from diagnosis.


“There is a very high risk when the patients needing neurological surgery have to be sent elsewhere immediately for CT scan,” Dr Gopal Raman Barma, a senior neurologist, said adding, “But we have no option.” He said that the neuro department has to send a doctor along with the patients whenever they are sent outside for the scan. “We don´t even have doctors to send out with the patients all the time,” he added.

Dr Barma claimed some critical patients have to be given suction to keep them breathing at times and they can even die if a doctor is not immediately available to attend to them. The hospital is currently sending more that 50 patients to other hospitals for CT scan every day.

Doctors also claimed that the hospital administration has not shown any urgency to repair the machine. Dr Barma said doctors´ repeated requests to the administration for the maintenance of the machine remains unheeded.

The hospital administration said it has published an advertisement demanding proposal for the maintenance of the machine but they have not received any response.

“We had published a notice a month ago but no one has shown interest to repair it,” Dr Mukunda Panthi, Registrar of the National Academy of Medical Science (NAMS), which oversees Bir, said.