Delhi: Patients wait for months for vital checks at Safdarjung Hospital

New Delhi: Patients visiting one of the largest tertiary healthcare centres in North India Safdarjung Hospital are being forced to wait for months to get vital diagnostic tests like CT scans and MRI done due to an acute shortage of machines in the hospital. Mammography, a vital cancer detection test for women, has not been done in the hospital, which comes under the ministry of health and family welfare, since 2020.

Those who require urgent reports for their treatments are being forced to shell out thousands of rupees to get these scans and tests done in private labs.

A woman patient who visited Safdarjung Hospital from UP’s Moradabad district for abdominal pain and swelling was advised CT Scan but given a date five months later for the test. “My mother was not getting relief despite being on medicines for a long time and local doctors referred her to Safdarjung Hospital for treatment. Here, doctors asked her to get a CT Scan done before initiating the treatment,” said Sudeep Kumar, the patient’s son, who works as a sanitation worker in a private sector.

A CT scan (detecting diseases and injuries) in a government hospital costs Rs 500 and Rs 6,000 if done at a private diagnostic lab. “We had to borrow money to get the test done at a private lab as the treatment was to be based on the diagnosis,” he said.

Dr Anuj Agarwal, senior doctor at department of radiodiagnosis and intervention radiology, said, “We accommodate emergency patients on priority but unfortunately many patients are turned away due to long waiting periods. Only one CT scan machine is functional as of now.”

Sources told TOI that three are three CT scan machines in the hospital. One had stopped working in 2017 and the other last year. Since then, only one machine is functional, which is overloaded.

“The costs for these tests at the hospital range between Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, but are four times higher in the private sector,” admitted a hospital staffer, adding that a similar problem is being faced by patients needing MRI test done.

On average, nearly 200 patients are prescribed MRI scan (useful for examining the brain and spinal cord) at Safdarjung Hospital per day, but only 17-18 are accommodated. “Rest of the patients either have to wait for 8-9 months or go and get the scan done at private facilities,” said a doctor, who works in the unit. He added that while the scan costs Rs 2,000 in the hospital, a private facility charges Rs 10,000 for the same.

Patients with breast cancer diagnosis have to suffer a lot as the lone mammography machine has been non-functional since 2020. They have no choice but to get the test done from outside the hospital to start treatment, said sources. Mammography costs Rs 150 in Safdarjung Hospital and in private labs, it costs Rs 3-3.5K.

Admitting the problems being faced by patients, Dr BL Sherwal, the hospital’s medical superintendent, said that the process of purchasing new CT and MRI machines has been initiated but it would take months due to the lengthy procedure involved in it. He added that he conducted a meeting with the radiology department authorities on Monday and they are trying to resolve the problem.