PHC issues notices in dysfunctional CT scan, MRI machines case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday put on notice high-ups of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department in a writ petition filed against out-of-order Computerised Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines at the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).
A two-member bench comprising Justice Nisar Hussain Khan and Justice Lal Jan Khattak issued notices to secretary and director general of the Health Department and HMC chief executive.
The officials were directed to explain their position about dysfunctional machines before March 11 which was the next hearing of the case. Muhammad Essa Khan, president of PHC Bar Association, and Akhtar Ilyas, a member of the bar, filed the writ petition. They made the provincial government through secretary health, director general health, HMC chief executive, medical superintendent and NAB head respondents.
The petitioners stated that the machines at the HMC are out-of-order and the patients are constrained to turn to other laboratories for the tests. It said millions of rupees were released by the interim government in 2013 for the repair of the above-mentioned machines and installation of new ones but the task was never accomplished.
The petitioners said being citizens of this country, they have every right to inquire about the disbursement and spending of the money. In interim relief, the petitioners prayed to direct the respondents to repair the existing CT scan, MRI and other machines and install new ones within a period three months to facilitate the needy patients at the HMC.