Mumbai: Old faulty MRI machine at Nair hospital fails patients, procurement of new machine delayed

In the last two years, there has been an underwhelming response from bidders to tenders floated by the BMC.

Swapnil Mishra Updated: Thursday, February 09, 2023, 10:19 PM IST
Nair Hospital in Mumbai.  |

Nair Hospital in Mumbai. |

At a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to upgrade its hospitals and clinics and even begin robotic surgeries, the civic-run BYL Nair Hospital continues to struggle to procure new MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines. In the last two years, there has been an underwhelming response from bidders to tenders floated by the BMC.

๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฅ๐—œ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ-๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€

There is one MRI machine in each of the four civic-run hospitals โ€“ KEM, Sion, Nair and Cooper. However, one additional machine is required to fulfil the pending and emerging needs. There are additional machines but their specification needs to be scrutinised by the Central Purchase Department of the hospitals. While civic hospitals charge Rs2,500 for an MRI, private hospitals and clinics charge nothing less than double this amount.

An emergency meeting was held at the BMC headquarters in December last year with Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar. A senior radiologist said the purchase was to be finalised in 2020 but the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the entire healthcare machinery was diverted towards its management.

He said, โ€œWe had asked for a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine but no vendor came forward. This time we are going for the advanced 3 Tesla MRI machine. The process was held-up due to red tape. We do not expect the machines to be installed before six-seven months.โ€

๐—ฅ๐˜€ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—•๐— ๐—– ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ

Dr Kumar said they have sanctioned Rs120 crore in the 2023-24 BMC budget to procure a new machine, which he assured will be installed soon.

In the meantime, the recurring technical snags in old machines are inconveniencing patients, who are forced to get MRIs done at private clinics. A senior official said on condition of anonymity that the new machines wonโ€™t be in service for at least three more months.

๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€

Poor people visit civic hospitals as they canโ€™t afford treatment at private hospitals. However, their indignation is amplified when they are forced to shell out money for key tests outside the hospital. The resilience of those below the poverty line gets tested when they have to wait for an MRI for months due to non-functional machines and an overburdened radiology department. Mostly the decision of surgery is based on an MRI.

The matter of non-functional MRI machines at Nair Hospital dates back to February 2018, when a patient, Rajesh Maru, a resident of Lalbaug, was killed after being pulled into the machine with an oxygen cylinder. After the incident, the hospitalโ€™s radiology department was shut for a few months and patients were asked to visit private clinics for MRIs.

๐—ก๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜

A hospital official said on condition of anonymity, โ€œWe were to procure a new machine after the incident, but the process was stuck as there were no bidders. During the pandemic, we put up a tender seven times but there was no response from any of the bidders. As a result, we repaired the old machine for use.โ€

The official added, โ€œWe learnt that the BMC tendering process is very difficult, owing to which bidders find themselves restrained. Moreover, the higher authorities pointed out unnecessary loopholes in the tender so they can add their commission. The retendering work involves a lot of paperwork and it takes two to three months.โ€

๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น

Sion Hospital, too, is facing a shortage of MRI machines. It currently has two, out of which one has been used extensively and is 11 years old, therefore requiring heavy maintenance. โ€œWe conduct about 25 MRIs per day. It is a lengthy process that takes about 45 minutes, unlike CT scans, of which we conduct about 150 every day,โ€ said hospital Dean Dr Mohan Joshi. Sion Hospital sees a demand of roughly 100 MRIs every day, Dr Joshi said.

Published on: Friday, February 10, 2023, 06:00 AM IST

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