It has been about seven months without a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) services at Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH) in Thimphu. The hospital says it will take a few more months to resume the service.
MRI is a safe, painless test that uses radio waves and energy from strong magnets to create detailed images of a body.
The hospital is currently upgrading the country’s only MRI machine. The scanner has been in use for about 12 years and high-end medical equipment have a lifespan of about five to eight years.
Works to upgrade the machine began in October last year and were scheduled to be complete by early this year. The government provided around Nu 40 M for the project.
“Initially we had to shut down the machine for patients’ safety. It is difficult to say when exactly the service would resume because it all depends on the various stakeholders who are working on the machine. Since it is a high-end machine, it requires many engineers who have to be called from India,” Dr Gosar Pemba, the Medical Superintendent of JDWNRH, said.
Reinstating the service got further delayed due to the reconstruction works at the MRI room. The hospital’s head of Biomedical Engineering Services, Prabha Katel, said, all high-end medical equipment has certain pre-installation requirement. Similarly, the upgraded MRI scanner needs a stronger radio frequency shielding.
“Basically the delay is due to the wall panelling. We have to complete the room before we start the actual installation. We don’t have in-house experts who can do the panelling and we have to depend on external sources. Also, we don’t have materials, we have to procure it based on the company’s advice. So sometimes we have to order the parts from Bangkok or Delhi or Siliguri, which further delays the process.”
Today, on average, the National Referral Hospital sees about 2-3 patients in a week requiring MRI. And since the service was suspended, those patients requiring immediate MRI are sent to Siliguri. The hospital bears all the referral expenses including the Daily Subsistence Allowances.
