Kozhikode: Hundreds of patients depending on Beach General Hospital here are in a dilemma after its lab ceased functioning.
Sources attribute the present state of affairs to the laxity on the part of Kirloskar Medical, the firm the government entrusted for providing lab facilities to hospitals.
The agency supposed to conduct replacement and maintenance of equipment provided no service for the last two years.
The automatic biochemistry analyser and equipment for blood and urine tests are also not working, forcing patients to depend on private labs charging double the amount.The hospital was also using equipment for various tests expired two years before. “People who can't afford private healthcare have no other choice,” said Neelam Sunny, a resident.
"For any operation, even for taking out a kidney stone, one has to go through several tests. Since the government has stopped providing them, it is the people from lower strata who suffer."
