Punjab Government Hospital Runs Short Of Film, Asks Patients To Click X-Ray Pictures From Smartphone

A government hospital in Punjab faced a shortage of physical film to print the radiograph and had to enforce a bizarre policy on patients to deal with the crisis. The management committee of the Mata Kaushalya Hospital, Patiala, asked the patients to take pictures of their X-rays from smartphones for medical examination by the doctor.

After the hospital asked to click X-ray pictures from smartphones, many patients complained about the process. Some didn't have access to good-quality camera phones, and some questioned the report's reliability if taken from smartphones.

Two days before the story came into highlight, the Punjab health minister, Chetan Singh Jouramajra, visited the same district hospital as it's situated in his hometown, Patiala.

On the direction of Health & Family Welfare Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra, Punjab government has started token system in Mata Kaushalya Government Hospital, Patiala so that the patients don't have to stand in queues & can easily get their prescriptions according to their turn. pic.twitter.com/oCnI64uhMG

— Government of Punjab (@PunjabGovtIndia) September 22, 2022

A construction worker, Fuljaria Devi, one of the patients, expressed her disappointment as she didn't have a smartphone to click the X-ray picture. She said, "My son works near the Focal Point, and only he has a smartphone. I will have to get my son to get my X-ray done," Times Now reported.

Similarly, another daily wage labourer was also denied a scan due to the unavailability of a smartphone, failing the scheduled diagnosis. Some doctors came forward to empathise with the helpless patients; others continued to carry on the process.

'This Process Saves Money'

The medical superintendent, Dr Sandeep Kaur, said, "This saves money. However, if someone does not have a smartphone, the staff of our X-ray department directly sends the shots to the doctor concerned."

A few other members of the management team also claimed that this process saves money that used to be spent on purchasing the physical films.

In another similar incident of irresponsible medical improvisation, a woman in Madhya Pradesh reached a hospital with a wound on her head, and the ward member dressed her wound with a condom wrapper as essential items like cotton and bandage were in shortage.

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