The prolonged breakdown of critical diagnostic equipment in Jammu’s premier Government hospitals has exposed a deeply troubling reality about the state of public healthcare infrastructure in the region. CT scan services at three major hospitals were unavailable for months, and the region’s lone Government MRI machine also stopped functioning; the situation is grim. For thousands of patients who depend on these institutions, it is a matter of life and death. What makes the situation particularly disturbing is the geographical concentration of this breakdown. The non-functional CT scan machines at Super Speciality Hospital, SMGS, and CD Hospital, along with the MRI machine at GMC Jammu, are all located within a radius of barely two kilometres. These hospitals together form the core of Jammu Division’s tertiary healthcare network. When diagnostic systems collapse simultaneously within such a small cluster of institutions, it cannot be dismissed as a routine technical failure.
CT scans and MRI imaging are not luxury facilities; they are fundamental tools for modern medical diagnosis. In trauma cases, neurological emergencies, cardiac complications and severe pulmonary diseases, timely imaging often determines the course of treatment and survival itself. When these machines remain out of service for months, patients are effectively denied access to essential medical evaluation. The fact that CT scan machines and the lone MRI machine are out of service for months reveals the fragile condition of diagnostic services in institutions that are supposed to be the backbone of Government healthcare in the region.
The consequences are visible every day in hospital corridors. Patients are routinely referred to other facilities or forced to seek expensive tests in private diagnostic centres. For economically weaker families, this means spending thousands of rupees on investigations that should have been available at minimal cost in Government hospitals. For critically ill patients, delays in diagnosis translate directly into delays in treatment. The distress does not end there. Earlier, even the emergency cath lab at SSH Jammu reportedly remained shut for days due to non-payment of dues to the supplier. Such incidents indicate that the problems extend beyond technical malfunctions to financial management and administrative coordination. Reports that more than a hundred ventilators are also lying defunct in GMC and its associated hospitals further deepen the sense that the system is slipping into dangerous neglect.
The most troubling aspect of this situation is the absence of accountability. Despite the scale of disruption, there has been little visible action to identify responsibility or fix systemic shortcomings. It raises legitimate questions about the functioning of those entrusted with managing the healthcare system. Is this merely the result of bureaucratic delays in procurement and maintenance? Or are there deeper structural issues-perhaps a flawed equipment management system, delayed payments to suppliers, or even the possibility of vested interests benefiting from patients being pushed towards private diagnostic facilities? These questions cannot be brushed aside.
In other States/UT, such a widespread breakdown of critical medical infrastructure would have triggered immediate enquiries and administrative action. The absence of such urgency here sends the wrong message. A comprehensive audit of medical equipment across all Government hospitals in the region is urgently required. This audit should examine procurement procedures, maintenance contracts, supply chains for spare parts, payment systems and the accountability framework within hospital administrations.
Simultaneously, the Government must move beyond temporary fixes and adopt a long-term strategy. Hospitals catering to the population size of the Jammu Division cannot depend on a single MRI machine or limited CT scan capacity. Additional machines must be installed in accordance with patient load, and maintenance systems must ensure that equipment downtime is measured in days, not months. The present situation suggests that things have drifted dangerously out of control. The Government must intervene decisively and restore confidence in the healthcare system. Something has clearly gone wrong somewhere, and it is the responsibility of the authorities to identify and rectify the issue without delay. Lives cannot be left at the mercy of administrative inertia.
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