Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Feb 17: Patients visiting SMHS, an associated hospital of GMC Srinagar, are facing immense hardship as the main MRI machine at the hospital has remained non-functional for several days. This has disrupted critical diagnostic services and forced many to either wait endlessly or seek scans in private facilities, where it is very costly.
The issue has particularly affected patients requiring urgent neurological, orthopaedic, and abdominal imaging, leading to long queues and confusion witnessed in the hospital corridors since the machine stopped working.
“I was referred here from Baramulla after weeks of pain,” Abdul Rashid, a 56-year-old patient suffering from severe back problems, told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO). “Doctors told me an MRI is necessary to decide further treatment, but now they say the machine is not working. Every day I come hoping it will start, but I return disappointed.”
Attendants accompanying patients expressed frustration over the uncertainty and financial burden.
“My father is a heart patient and also has brain-related complications,” said Farooq Ahmad, an attendant from Pulwama. “Private MRI centres are charging Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000, which we simply cannot afford. Government hospitals are meant for poor people like us, but when machines don’t work, where should we go?”
Another patient, Shazia Begum, who had been waiting for an MRI scan for her teenage son following a head injury, said delays could prove dangerous. “Doctors warned us that timely scanning is important to rule out internal damage. It’s been four days now. Every passing day increases our anxiety,” she said.
Hospital officials, however, said efforts are underway to manage the situation and restore the machine at the earliest.
“We have another MRI facility available at the Psychiatry Department, and patients are being shifted there for necessary scans,” he said. “The main MRI machine at SMHS developed a technical fault, and a crucial part is being sourced from outside. It will be made functional soon.”
Patients, however, complained that the alternate facility is insufficient to handle the heavy rush.
Patients, along with attendants, have urged the authorities to ensure regular maintenance of crucial medical equipment and to establish backup systems to prevent such breakdowns in the future so that poor patients won’t suffer at any cost.
