Burnt Portable X-Ray Machine at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital Still Unrepaired After Eight Months, Patients Paying Five to Seven Times More to Outside Operators

A portable X-ray machine at Rajshahi Medical College (RMC) Hospital was set on fire eight months ago. It has not been repaired since, and no new machine has arrived either. In this situation, a syndicate is bringing in portable X-ray machines from outside and charging patients Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500 per X-ray.

According to the case statement, at 4:08am on January 28 an unidentified person entered the hospital and set fire to the portable X-ray machine kept in front of Ward No. 31. The nurse and ward boy on duty brought the fire under control using the hospital's fire extinguisher, but by then the machine had burnt out completely. The hospital authorities filed a case at Rajpara Police Station the next day.

Hospital sources said that although the rule was to take the machine to the radiology department after use through the day, in the days before the incident it had been kept beside the nursing desk at night. That is where it was set on fire.

A nine-member inquiry committee was formed over the incident, headed by Professor Towfiqul Islam of the hospital's medicine department. Committee chief Professor Towfiqul Islam said they submitted their inquiry report to the hospital director within the stipulated time, but he could not comment on the report.

Although CCTV footage showed a masked person setting fire to the machine and fleeing, police could not identify him. The case's investigating officer, Rajpara Police Station Sub-Inspector Akram Hossain, said no one could be identified in the arson incident, and a final report has therefore been submitted to the court.

After the portable X-ray machine burnt out, the director's younger brother, Md Liton, brought such a machine into the hospital. When the matter became known, the authorities took steps so that Liton's machine could no longer enter the hospital. When Liton was phoned on Monday night, on hearing the question he said: "I have no comment on these matters, brother. My brother is the hospital director, he has a job. He has a separate household, I have a separate household." He then disconnected the call.

Hospital sources said a syndicate has since brought in such a portable X-ray machine, though no one is willing to speak directly about the syndicate. Hospital spokesperson Dr Sheikh Shamim Ahmed said tests for which equipment is available at the hospital are not done outside the hospital, but because the portable X-ray machine is out of order, permission is being given out of compulsion to use outside machines. He said he did not know whether the director's brother provided this service after the machine was burnt.

The hospital authorities said there were previously two portable X-ray machines. One was a very old model and had been out of order for a long time; when the other burnt, the service stopped. Bringing machines in from outside has pushed the cost of the test to five to seven times the hospital's fixed fee.

Posters advertising portable X-ray services were also seen on walls in front of various wards of the hospital, promising careful X-rays even on holidays. When the mobile number on a poster was contacted, a man said the cost is higher if their machine is taken into the hospital, but he did not want to reveal his identity.

Speaking to patients, it was learned that a chest X-ray at the hospital's radiology department costs Tk 220, while calling in a machine from outside costs Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500.

Meanwhile, a Public Administration Ministry notification on Monday recalled Brigadier General PKM Masud-ul-Islam from the post of hospital director to the Armed Forces Division. He had joined the hospital as director last November. A new director has been posted to the hospital but has not yet taken charge; despite the transfer order, Masud-ul-Islam remains at RMC Hospital as the new director has not arrived. Attempts to contact him on the matter drew no response.

The hospital authorities claim letters have been sent several times to the National Electro-Medical Equipment Maintenance Workshop (NEMEW) to repair the burnt machine. Spokesperson Sheikh Shamim Ahmed said he had heard NEMEW has called a tender to buy a new portable X-ray machine, and they hope to receive one soon. He also said the arsonist could not be identified because he was wearing a mask.