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No working fluoroscope in city’s teaching hospitals

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: The patients in need of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP) have to pay for the test at private hospitals since there is not a single fluoroscope working at any government hospital, Daily Times learnt on Wednesday.

The fluoroscope is used for several examinations before surgery linked to liver, gallbladder, pancreas and bones. It provides doctors with real-time pictures of the malfunctioning organ. Doctors say the machine helps them take life-saving decisions before major surgical procedures.

A fluoroscope costs around Rs 3 million. The private hospitals charge around Rs 15,000 for the procedure while the government hospitals charge a nominal fee.

Patients said government hospitals were now referring them to private hospitals for the procedure. They said most of the patients at government hospitals are poor and cannot afford the high fees charged by the private hospitals.

Shaukat Ali said his 80-year-old mother, Ayesha Bibi, had developed a stone in her pancreas and the doctors had suggested early surgery because a puncture in the pancreas could kill her. A fluoroscope test was needed before the operation. He said his mother was at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, but the fluoroscope machine at the hospital was out of order. Shaukat Ali said he had contacted other government hospitals but found no working fluoroscope. He said the doctors had given him the address of a private hospital for the test because they said that an operation without the test would be risky.

He said there were many other patients who required the same test, but could not afford the private hospitals’ fees.

Amjad said his father had developed kidney stones and the doctors wanted a fluoroscope test to know the scale of the deformity. He said he had visited almost all government hospitals only to be told that the machines were out of order.

A urologist at Mayo Hospital told Daily Times that the fluoroscope and lithotripsy machines (used to generate shock waves to break kidney stones) had been out of order for a long time. He said the doctors concerned had complained a number of times, but the two machines had not been repaired yet.

Ganga Ram Hospital medical superintendent Dr Mazharuddin told Daily Times that the hospital’s fluoroscope had broken down after serving for more than two decades. He said the hospital was planning to purchase a new one. He said since the fluoroscope had to be imported, it was not possible for him to predict when the hospital would get a new machine.

Lahore General Hospital MS Dr Umar Farooq said the hospital had some of the latest equipment. He said he would have the machine repaired immediately if it had broken down.

Jinnah Hospital MS Dr Zahid Pervaiz said the fluoroscope at the hospital was working properly. However, a doctor at Jinnah Hospital, confirmed that the machine had been out of order for a long time. A Services Hospital official also confirmed that the hospital’s fluoroscope had been out of order for a long time and that the hospital routinely referred its patients to other hospitals for the tests.

Mayo Hospital additional medical superintendent Dr Manzoor said the hospital’s lithotripsy and fluoroscope machines had been out of order for a long time and the purchase of a new lithotripsy machine and the repair of the fluoroscope were in the pipeline.

Sheikh Zayed Hospital administrator Dr Saboor said the hospital’s fluoroscope was out of order. He said a new machine was being purchased. He added that the previous one would also be repaired soon.

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