(Top) Radiology department at SCB Medical College and (below) Hospital and patients at the department on Tuesday. Telegraph pictures

Cuttack, Sept. 27: The absence of high-end generator back up system is adversely affecting various investigation and diagnostic processes at some departments at Sriram Chandra Bhanja (SCB) Medical College and Hospital here. The hospital is reeling from incidents of frequent power cuts.

The worst hit is the hospital’s radiology department. Doctors and technicians there are unable to conduct investigations, including X-rays and ultrasound scans, because of the absence of a high-power generator in times of frequent power cuts.

Patients at the SCB had to suffer from power cut for two hours yesterday as there was no alternative system which would ensure uninterrupted power supply.

Similarly, several patients and their attendants had to wait for over five hours to get their X-rays and ultrasound tests done at the radiology department following a “scheduled” power cut for maintenance work on Sunday.

“There is no power back up or alternative power supply to the department. As a result, poor patients suffer from inordinate delay as we have no alternative but to wait,” said Subrat Sahu, 28, of Kujang.

Sahu had to wait for several hours at the radiology department to get an ultrasound done for his wife Bijaylaxmi Sahu who had some complications in pregnancy.

“At present, there is no power back up in our department. X-ray, ultrasound, and other diagnostic machines need high-power generators to be operated in times of power failure,” said Dr Jayashree Mohanty, head of radiology department, SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Apart from radiology department, investigations such as CT scan are also becoming impossible to conduct at the Regional Diagnostic Centre (RDC) at the hospital in case of a power failure.

Though alternative power supply is available at the RDC during power cut, it is not adequate for running CT scan and ultrasound machines.

“Because of the power cut, I was told that conducting a CT scan was not possible in the morning. As the test is more expensive at private diagnostic centres, I then had to wait till 2pm for power service to resume on Sunday,” said Ranjani Sahu.

Sahu had come to the hospital from Naraj to get the CT scan done for her seven-year-old son who was suffering from brain disorder. She had to wait till power supply was restored at the RDC later in the afternoon on Sunday.

On the other hand, SCB Medical College and Hospital authorities have admitted that there were still certain areas that needed more improvement to provide quality medical services to patients who came to the hospital from different parts of the state.

“There are alternative power arrangements in all the emergency units, operation theatres and many wards at the hospital. But some departments, including radiology, are yet to have their own power backup system. We plan to solve all such lacunae in a phased manner,” said colonel (retired) Srikanta Mohapatra, senior administrator at the SCB Medical College and Hospital.