‘Will consider getting MRI machines’

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has declared that it will consider procurement of more Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines for its hospitals through the public private partnership model, state minister Ranjit Patil said in the Council on Thursday. “There is a dearth of MRI machines in hospitals, considering the population quantum of the city,” the minister of state for home (urban) said while speaking on the issue in the state Legislative Council.

Mr Patil was responding to a query raised by Hemant Takle of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) over the incident in January at the city-based Nair Hospital’s MRI room, where a man died after allegedly getting sucked into the MRI machine and inhaled the liquid oxygen that leaked out of a cylinder he was carrying.

Raising the issue during Question Hour, Mr Takle said, “MRI machines are essential in medical facilities. However, there is no proper training of ward boys and ayahs (women caretakers), leading to such incidents.” Citing the Nair Hospital’s incident, the NCP member said the medical facility has 300 beds, about 13 departments and a sanctioned strength of 247 ward boys and 103 ayahs. “Of these, 167 posts are empty. In such cases where the staff is not sufficient, the available staff members, who do not have knowledge about the MRI machines, have to be roped in,” he said.

The insufficient number of MRI machines also leads to a waiting list of patients — from 15 days to three months, he said. Mr Takle demanded that the government increase the number of MRI machines in government hospitals and undertake an extensive training of ward boys to avoid accidents.

Responding to him, Mr Patil said that in the case of the man’s death in the MRI room of Nair Hospital, compensation of Rs 5 lakh has already been provided to the deceased’s family. “Considering the population flow in Mumbai, the number of MRI machines has to be increased,” Mr Patil said, adding that all four government hospitals in the city have such machines.