The plasma separator machine. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, May 13: Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital may boast of state-of-the-art medical equipment and facilities but they are hardly utilised.

A plasma separator, used for separating plasma from blood, is lying idle at the government hospital’s blood bank for the past two years. The machine, which was bought for Rs 16 lakh, is lying unused due to unavailability of licence for operation.

Sources in the government hospital said the authorities had submitted a petition with the department of health, Jharkhand, for licence but the file is gathering dust at the health department.

Sources claimed that before getting a final nod for using the plasma separator, the application has to receive the approval from the Union government also. But as the file is stuck at the state capital, there is no word about its fate.

V.B.K. Chaudhary, the head of the department of MGM Medical College Hospital blood bank, admitted that they have to face immense problems in catering to the plasma demand of the patients, especially patients with burns.

“Apart from the patients at the medical college hospital, patients from private nursing home and other hospitals also come looking for plasma here, but as we do not have the licence for operating the machine, we are helpless,” said Chaudhury.

S.P. Sinha, the health secretary of Jharkhand, told The Telegraph over the phone that the licensing authority for blood bank or for machines like plasma separator is National Aids Control Organisation.

“Setting up of a blood bank or any other relevant unit like the plasma separator is a composite process which is dealt only by National Aids Control Organisation. The hospital authorities have to meet certain requirements before getting the licence. And even if they fail to meet the criteria, they may get the licence by pursuing the matter through the National Aids Control Organisation state unit,” the health secretary said.

Sinha said there must be some lapse on the part of the college authorities.

In Jharkhand, there are only two blood banks where the plasma separators are presently functioning — one at RIMS and the other at All India Women Conference-run Jamshedpur Blood Bank.

Health department sources said as the Jamshedpur Blood Bank is a private organisation the plasma are much costlier there.

Moreover, as the Tata Main Hospital has set up an exclusive burn care unit, burn patients from far-flung areas and even neighbouring state come here for treatment.