Patients, students of BYL Nair Hospital in a fix over MRI machine breakdown

Mumbai: The 14-year-old MRI machine at BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central, has run out of service, forcing doctors to refer patients to nearby private diagnostic centres and public hospitals. According to the civic hospital, the machine was purchased in 2009 and was given end-of-life certification in January.

“The 1.5 Tesla MRI machine stopped functioning on September 6. Since the end-of-life certificate was issued in January this year, the manufacturer has not repaired it. Being an old machine, the spare parts are unavailable. We are now forced to send patients to nearby private labs who are offering the plain MRI scan on BMC rates,” a doctor from the hospital said, adding that Nair Hospital’s radiology department conducted 30 MRIs daily, including inpatient, emergency and outpatient services.

“It is important to have an MRI machine in a tertiary care hospital like ours as we get stroke patients in the emergency department who need to be diagnosed and treated in the golden hour. With the MRI not working, we are forced to send these patients to private labs or other public hospitals – JJ Hospital, KEM Hospital – which results in delay and loss of crucial treatment period,” a doctor from the hospital’s neurology department said.

The other departments which are getting affected are orthopaedic and surgical.

According to senior officials from Nair Hospital, the proposal to purchase a new MRI machine was initiated in 2018. “The machine came with a three-year warranty and a five-year comprehensive maintenance contract. With the kind of workload we have, the lifespan of the machine was calculated to be 8 to 10 years. Accordingly, the proposal for the new MRI was sent to the Central Purchase Department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2018,” the official said. He added it was in 2023 that the department went ahead with the tendering process.

“Only three companies manufacture MRI machines. CPD only got one of them to come forward since one of the other two companies didn’t want to participate because the civic body owes them ₹10-12 crore. The other company was not interested. CPD is not going ahead with one participant though proof has been submitted to them on how other public hospitals across the country have gone ahead with MRI purchase with one participant,” the official added.

While patients are suffering, radiology students too suffer, apart from revenue loss to the BMC. The private MRI centre is charging BMC ₹2,400 per scan. “It is a revenue loss of ₹72,000 per day for MRI and ₹60,000 for CT scan per day. Instead of purchasing the new MRI, which will cost ₹30-35 crore, BMC is now planning to get helium gas for ₹25 lakh which will make the old machine functional for another three to four months,” the official said.

Dr Sudhir Medhekar, dean of the hospital, said, “We have tied up with nearby private diagnostic centres who are offering the scans at BMC rate. We have also asked for help from JJ, Sion and KEM hospitals. We have arranged ambulance services to ferry emergency patients and inpatients. For OPD patients, we send them to BMC’s hospitals in eastern and western suburbs.”

The hospital administration is speaking to the higher authorities to resolve the crisis at the earliest, he said, adding, “We are in talks with KEM Hospital and Sion Hospital’s radiology department to help Nair Hospital radiology PG students. We are planning to send them for the MRI and CT scan practical classes.” Nair Hospital has 30 PG students in the radiology department.