The Patna Medical College and Hospital authorities are split over the use of an expensive machine bought by the nephrology department for its surgical intensive care unit.

The Telegraph approached three senior officials of the state’s premier health hub and received conflicting versions about the usage of the continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) machine.

Sources said in 2009, the health hub bought four CRRT machines, each for Rs 14 lakh. The machine at the surgical ICU has apparently been gathering dust because of lack of requisite chemical agents.

“As far as I know, four CRRT machines were bought at the initiative of then nephrology department head Vinod Kumar Singh. He handed over one machine to the surgery department. But why the machine is lying unused, you ask the surgery department head and not me. We are using all our three CRRT machines,” said Yashwant Singh, head of the nephrology department.

Experts said the CRRT machine is useful in dialysis of kidney failure patients, especially those with low blood pressure and cardiac problems.

When this correspondent approached U.C. Isser, head of the surgery department, he had no idea about the machine lying idle. “Only the head of the anaesthesia department can give you correct information,” said Isser.

Anaesthesia department head Ashok Kumar confirmed: “Yes, the CRRT machine at the surgical ICU unit has never been used because of lack of Tiasylate solution, which costs Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 for a round of 24-hour dialysis.”

Asked why the surgical ICU CRRT machine was lying idle, PMCH superintendent Amar Kant Jha Amar tried to conceal the fact. “Who told you that it is lying unused? In fact, we conducted dialysis on six patients on Wednesday and on 10 people on Thursday. Ask the anaesthesia department head, he will confirm the same.”

When The Telegraph contacted Ashok Kumar, he iterated the CRRT machine was lying unused. But the superintendent avoided calls from this correspondent thereafter.

A doctor of the nephrology department, wishing anonymity, said: “If there was no need of the CRRT machine, then why was this machine purchased and when it has been bought, why is the administration not taking its benefits? In its place, the administration could have bought another machine necessary for the hospital such as an MRI machine.”