Rs 15.4 crore cyclotron among crores worth of unused equipment in Delhi hospitals

Crores of rupees have been spent on medical equipment across Delhi's government hospitals, but a recent audit has revealed that several expensive machines remain unused, in some cases for years, because of shortages of manpower, space, trained specialists and even essential reagents.

The findings emerged after the Delhi High Court directed all hospitals under the Delhi government to conduct an audit of medical equipment lying unused and submit their status reports.

The order came on July 3 after the court was informed that a PET cyclotron at the Delhi State Cancer Institute had remained idle since April 2022.

'It is clear that this is a gross waste of public resources,' the court observed while directing the audit.

A total of 26 hospitals subsequently submitted status updates following internal audits.

The Delhi government compiled the findings into an affidavit that was placed before the High Court on August 5. The hospitals covered include GTB Hospital, Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Burari Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital, GIPMER (GB Pant Hospital), Maulana Azad Medical College and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.

Among the institutions, the Delhi State Cancer Institute reported some of the most expensive equipment lying unused.

Rs 15.4 crore cyclotron among idle equipment

A medical cyclotron purchased by the institute's Department of Nuclear Medicine in 2017 for USD 2.5 million, approximately Rs 15.4 crore, has been lying unused because of a lack of manpower.

The equipment also involved Rs 64 lakh in local supply costs and Rs 2.5 crore as turnkey cost.

A PET cyclotron is used to produce radioactive isotopes required for medical imaging and related applications.

The machine had remained unused since April 2022, a matter that prompted the High Court to seek a wider audit of government hospitals.

The same department also has a dual-head gamma camera with Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), multislice CT and radiation therapy simulation capabilities.

The advanced imaging system, purchased in 2017 for USD 1.3 million along with Rs 26.68 lakh in local supply costs, has also not been put to use. The affidavit states that the equipment is 'under evaluation'.

Elsewhere in the institute, a grossing station purchased from KUGEL, Germany, remains unused because there is no space available for its installation. The equipment, used for tissue slicing and sample preparation, was received free of cost.

The Department of Lab Medicine has also reported three types of analysers lying unused. One biochemistry analyser alone cost Rs 1.26 crore. The equipment has not been used because the reagents required for testing were discontinued.

The three analysers are now in the process of condemnation, meaning they are considered unusable.

Ultrasound machine unused without radiologist

At Dr BR Sur Homoeopathic Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, a fully functional ultrasound machine worth Rs 19.08 lakh is lying unused because there is no radiologist.

The hospital does not have a regular sanctioned post for a radiologist and has said it is in the process of engaging one on a 'guest-faculty basis'.

Rs 94.82 lakh oxygen tank never connected

At Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, an anaesthesia liquid medical oxygen buffer tank worth around Rs 94.82 lakh has also remained unused.

The tank was donated by the Save Life Foundation in 2021 during the Covid outbreak.

According to the hospital, the buffer storage tank, intended for hospitals particularly in West Delhi, was 'never connected' to DDUH's medical gas pipeline system.

The hospital's eye department has another set of equipment that has remained unused for years. An eye bank specular microscope and an eye bank laminar air flow system, purchased in 2020 and 2019 respectively for Rs 22.15 lakh, were procured to establish a fully functional eye bank.

The equipment initially remained unused because of a shortage of trained cornea specialists.

The pandemic then brought about a 'complete shutdown' of corneal donation and organ transplantation. The equipment continues to remain unused amid a shortage of trained doctors and ophthalmologists.

The hospital also has oxygen concentrators, BiPaps and ventilators that were donated by its surgery, orthopaedic, paediatric and gynaecology departments during Covid in 2021.

Among them are 13 Dhaman ventilators, each costing Rs 2.16 lakh. Several of these machines remain unused after the pandemic.

Covid equipment now lying idle

Lok Nayak Hospital, too, reported equipment procured during the Covid period that is no longer regularly in use.

The hospital received 140 patient monitors, 180 BiPAP machines and 500 oxygen concentrators during the pandemic. Several of these pieces of equipment are now lying unused.

The hospital told the court that the equipment is indented in different wards 'when required'.

The audit, ordered by the Delhi High Court, has therefore brought into focus not merely the scale of equipment lying idle, but the reasons behind it.

Across the hospitals, shortages of manpower and trained specialists, inadequate space, discontinued reagents, lack of connectivity and the disruption caused by the pandemic have all contributed to expensive equipment remaining outside regular clinical use.

The findings have raised questions over the utilisation of public money spent on medical infrastructure, particularly when government hospitals continue to cater to large numbers of patients.