Hyderabad: Equipment worth Rs 100 crore is lying defunct. Ventilators, CT Scan machines, laboratory equipment and even microscopes have been packed and placed in out-patient departments or storerooms either because they have not been repaired or there are no technicians to work on them. At the Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, equipment worth Rs 4 crore is scattered in three rooms as they are not of the required standard. A senior doctor at the said, “The Faco machines, ultrasound and fungus fixture machines are lying idle for the last two years. As they occupy space, they have been kept in the out-patient department. Earlier they were dumped in a room. Because we needed more space, it then shifted to various corners in the OPD.”
Two ventilators in Gandhi and Osmania hospitals are not working. They have only been placed on one side, awaiting repair. Apart from these, outdated equipment like ultrasound machines are lying in both the hospitals but are not being used as the results are not correct. A senior doctor said, “We have asked the government to give us some of the best equipment but the files are still under process. In the new proposals, the government has been told about all theseold and outdated equipment. We need to move them away from here and make place for the new ones.”
Dr R. Ramesh, senior government doctor, said: “Along with the new equ-ipment, we require technicians to operate them. We just can’t get an equipment without operators.” He said the government should sign a five-year annual maintenance contract with the companies as even a small problem could stop the machine. “It is not possible for hospital staff to repair these machines,” he said.
The requirement for a highly skilled technical staff at the hospital level is also being demanded so that these equipments have efficient handlers and who can follow up with the manufacturers if there is a defect.
