Government hospitals in Delhi are experiencing a quiet crisis that impacts thousands of patients daily: an acute shortage of radiologists and operational diagnostic machines. CT and MRI scanners, the tools of modern medicine, are absent in many of these hospitals. While some hospitals possess ultrasound machines, they are usually not utilized due to the unavailability of trained radiologists to operate them.
Emergency imaging patients, particularly at night, are being diverted or routed to already strained tertiary medical facilities, which contradicts the vision of affordable, quality healthcare for Delhi citizens.
Hospitals Running on Empty
A Right to Information (RTI) application made by Dr. Aman Kaushik exposes just how dire things are. Quite a number of hospitals, such as Maharshi Valmiki Hospital, Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, Jag Parvesh Chandra Hospital, Guru Gobind Singh Hospital, and Satyavadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela, are operating without minimum imaging facilities such as CT and MRI scans.
It's appalling. District hospitals can't even provide emergency ultrasound services at night, forcing patients to be referred to already overburdened higher centers. This is far from the world-class healthcare previously promised to Delhi's citizens.
Dr. Aman Kaushik
Committee Findings Paint a Grim Picture
The Dr SK Sarin committee, instituted by the Delhi High Court, substantiated these complaints. It found a total lack of MRI facilities in all the surveyed hospitals and no CT scans in some institutions that regularly deal with road accident trauma cases. The panel emphasized the imperative of establishing regional radiology hubs and employing radiologists and radiographers to address the diagnostic demands of patients.
Doctors Raise Alarm Over Patient Care Gaps
The RTI data show that nearly half of the hospitals (7 out of 16) cannot provide ultrasound services because they lack radiologists. Even at hospitals that have ultrasounds, they are limited to working hours alone. Timely diagnostic imaging needed by patients often gets postponed or directed to private centers under the Delhi Arogya Kush scheme.
Though the scheme provides free services to eligible Delhi residents at private centers, doctors are worried about patients from outside Delhi, who have no choice.
Reforms are necessary, but is there a will?
The Sarin committee also observed that internal radiology services would enhance efficiency, cut waiting times for patients, and enable the clearance of the mounting backlog. State health secretary SB Deepak Kumar could not be reached on the phone when contacted for comments.
Director General of Health Services Dr Rajesh Kumar said that hospitals fall outside his jurisdiction.
With the crisis deepening, questions are being raised over political accountability and leadership. Dr. Munish Raizada raised a question over the state of hospitals in Delhi and raised a valuable question on the accountability of the CM. He stated via “X” :
"It will need a gigantic political will to reform the state of Delhi where hospitals are sick. Will Delhi CM Rekha Gupta show it?"
Bottom line
According to critics, Delhi's public health system, which was promised to be "world-class," is failing to perform even the most basic diagnostic work. They emphasize that unless the government acts now, thousands of patients will continue to experience delays, referrals, and poor quality treatment issues that could easily be addressed with improved staffing, equipment, and political will.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Muhammad Faisal Arshad/MSM)
