The prolonged breakdown of CT scan services at three of Jammu’s major Government hospitals-Super Speciality Hospital, SMGS Hospital, and Chest Diseases Hospital-highlights a grave failure in public healthcare management. Expired warranties, lack of timely procurement, and a critical fund crunch, all converging to deny patients the timely diagnostics they desperately need. In modern medicine, a CT scan is not a luxury-it is a basic diagnostic tool essential for timely and accurate treatment. The fact that the lone CT scan machine at SSH has remained non-functional since July 2024 is both shocking and unacceptable. More disturbing is the domino effect of this failure: patients are being rerouted to overburdened facilities like GMCH and Bone & Joint Hospital, stretching their capacities thin. The elderly, children, and emergency cases are bearing the brunt, often forced into expensive private diagnostic centres.
The situation at CD Hospital is equally dire, especially considering its role in treating respiratory ailments-a category of illnesses where imaging is often crucial for diagnosis and monitoring. SMGS Hospital, which handles the region’s largest maternal and childcare load, also finds itself crippled due to a CT scan machine outage, adding further stress to a fragile healthcare system. Assurances that the procurement is underway do little to comfort the patients in need. The delay in securing replacements points to deeper systemic flaws-chiefly, an overreliance on expired equipment and a reactive, rather than proactive, maintenance and procurement strategy. JKMSCL’s explanation of fund constraints reinforces the urgency for better planning and budget allocation.
The current impasse underlines the urgent need for a preventive maintenance policy and a streamlined procurement mechanism, insulated from red tape and fund delays. A robust contingency plan, backed by timely funding and administrative accountability, must be institutionalised. Healthcare infrastructure is the backbone of public welfare. When basic diagnostics like CT scans become inaccessible in Government hospitals, it’s not just a service lapse-it’s a breach of public trust.
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