Chandigarh, September 22: Patients at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH) in Sector 16 are experiencing prolonged delays as two of the facility’s four X-ray machines remain out of service. One machine in the emergency ward has been non-operational for seven days, while another in the out-patient department (OPD) is also down, creating major hurdles for those requiring urgent scans.
The dual breakdown has forced patients to either visit a separate hospital building for X-rays or travel to the Sector-22 civil hospital. The disruption is affecting around 3,500 out-patients who visit the hospital daily, nearly 30% of whom come from outside Chandigarh, many requiring imaging for accurate diagnoses.
Originally established in 1952 to serve a population of roughly 5 lakh, GMSH now receives referrals across the region. To manage this demand, the hospital normally operates four X-ray machines: three in the OPD—Rooms 1, 4, and 8—and one in the emergency ward, Room 103. With the emergency machine offline, patients in urgent need are now sharing the remaining OPD machines, further prolonging wait times.
The OPD machine in Room 1 is also unavailable as the area is under renovation, leaving patients with limited options and no prioritisation for emergencies.
On Wednesday afternoon, 60-year-old Baksho Kaur of New Chandigarh, who suffers from severe leg and knee pain, was seen waiting in a wheelchair outside X-ray Room 8 alongside routine OPD patients. Her son pointed out the added difficulty caused by the worn-out wheelchair tyres.
Similarly, Geeta, a road accident victim, had to wait for a chest X-ray on a bench in Room 4, while her injured son queued with other patients. Despite the emergency nature of their cases, neither received preferential treatment.
UT Director of Health Services Dr. Suman Singh acknowledged the issue, noting that while annual maintenance is in place, technical faults can still arise. “There is some issue with the software integration of the machine. Engineers tried to rectify the fault, but in vain. A replacement machine is being arranged,” she said.
The breakdown highlights systemic challenges in catering to GMSH’s growing patient load, where operational machines struggle to meet the needs of both routine and emergency cases.
