Shopian: The patients advised ultrasound by the doctors in south Kashmir’s Shopian district are forced to visit private diagnostic centres in absence of a radiologist at District Hospital Shopian.
“My doctor has advised me an ultrasound scan and I have come here for it,” said a woman, who was waiting for her turn outside a private radiology centre.
She said that the centre charged Rs 700 for the scan.
“Had there been a radiologist at the district hospital, they would have done it almost for free,” she said.
An official at the facility said that the ultrasound machine had been rendered useless in absence of a radiologist.
According to a medico, the hospital was functioning without a radiologist for the past three years.
“The lone radiologist posted at the hospital left his job in 2019 and the authorities did not post a new radiologist at the facility,” he said.
The medico said that they were forced to refer patients to private clinics in absence of a radiologist. He said that pregnant women suffer the most as they need to get the scan done every trimester.
“While poor patients have been suffering due to official apathy, private clinics are charging exorbitantly,” the medico said.
A senior official, who did not wish to be quoted, said that the hospital administration took up the issue with the higher-ups many times but to no avail.