No Technicians, No Tests: Diagnostic Machines Gathering Dust At Bhopal Gas Hospitals Since 2023

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Since 2023, government hospitals run by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation (BGTRR) department have been facing a unique problem.

Equipment for sonography, echocardiography, digital X-ray, treadmill test (TMT), and pulmonary function test (PFT) is lying unused at these facilities due to a lack of trained technicians or specialist doctors.  

The issue is more prominent at Rasool Ahmed Siddiqui Pulmonary Medicine Centre, Jahangirabad, but Gas Rahat Hospital DIG Bungalow and Shakir Ali Khan Memorial Hospital are also facing it.

While the Indira Gandhi and Kamla Nehru Hospitals have at least radiology services available, patients are hardly getting benefits, as it depends on the whims of the doctors concerned, said sources.

This also isn’t a one-off, as Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action pointed out; the same problem persisted after such a purchase in 1984. “In 1984, equipment was purchased with Rs 2 crore, but they were never used.

Sonography, PFT, TMT, and Echocardiography machines are not being used in these hospitals. Indira Gandhi and Kamla Nehru hospitals both have doctors, but it is solely their discretion who can avail the facilities. Gas relief hospitals have been facing such problems since 2023.” 

Purnendu Shukla, member of the SC monitoring committee, Bhopal gas tragedy, confirmed, “The gas relief hospitals were supplied a fresh lot of this equipment in 2023, but the machines have been lying idle since.”  

Reason cited

Citing the reason for the absence of proper manpower at gas relief hospitals, Dr S S Rajput, Chief Medical Officer, BGTRR, said, “The government has outsourced radiology facilities in its hospitals, so there are experts to use the equipment.

Hospitals run by the BGTRR have not outsourced trained staff, so we are facing these problems. However, we refer the patients to Kamla Nehru Hospital for such tests.” 

Idle equipment: Sonography, echocardiography, digital X-ray, treadmill test (TMT) and pulmonary function test (PFT) machines

Hospitals affected: Rasool Ahmed Siddiqui Pulmonary Medicine Centre, Jahangirabad, Gas Rahat Hospital DIG Bungalow and Shakir Ali Khan Memorial Hospital

Limited services: Indira Gandhi and Kamla Nehru hospitals have radiology, but use depends on doctors’ discretion.