MRI, CT scans halted at LNH; patients given dates for 2028

For more than two weeks now, MRI and CT scan services at Lok Nayak Hospital (LNH), one of Delhi's largest government-run medical institutions, have been suspended - forcing hundreds of poor and ill patients to turn to private centres, or wait years.

- Ridhima Gupta

A ground check by HT found that patients arriving at the hospital for new MRIs are being handed dates for as late as 2028, while others waiting for CT scans and ultrasounds face similar delays. To be sure, officials said MRIs are still being offered at the hospital for inpatients and emergency/trauma cases.

According to a letter dated September 30 from the hospital's department of radiodiagnosis to the medical director, titled "Critical issue in CT and MRI" and seen by HT, the services have been "stopped immediately." The shutdown, the letter states, was triggered by two issues. The Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) - a digital platform that stores and shares medical images - has been down since September 23, and engineers are still working to fix it. Compounding the crisis, the hospital has also run out of MRI and CT films, leaving radiology staff with no way to print or store scan results.

"We are constrained to stop CT and MRI services immediately," the letter reads. "There has been no supply of CT/MRI films for the last seven days and, in the absence of the PACS system, there is a huge pendency on mainframe computers. We fear the system will crash, so only trauma and emergency cases are being done."

A senior hospital official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the shortage. "We've been struggling with film supply for a month. The department is trying to expedite the process. We hope to resolve this within days," the official said, requesting anonymity. Asked about the delay, the official said the hospital operates with just one MRI machine.