Bhubaneswar: The health and family welfare department is set to make diagnostic services, including expensive dialysis, X-ray, CT scan and the MRI, free for patients.

The government, through its Free Diagnostic Scheme, will provide the services to the people.

It has already been providing expensive drugs for free to patients through its Niramaya scheme since 2015.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi held a high-level meeting with officials of the National Health Mission (NHM) in November and come up with the plan. The officials have decided to outsource these diagnostic services for smooth function and quick service delivery. It will be implemented first at Capital Hospital here.

"The cost of the free diagnostic and dialysis services will be shared between the NHM and the state government," said an official of the health and family welfare department.

"The NHM has already made a provision of Rs 40 crore for the scheme while the remaining amount will be taken from the funds available with our department," he said.

The government health care facilities in the state now charge between Rs 800 and Rs 1,400 for CT scan, Rs 50 to Rs 100 for various X-rays, Rs 100 for ultrasound, Rs 300 to Rs 700 for dialysis. The cost of these diagnostic services is almost three times at the private health care facilities of the city.

"This is definitely a great move by the state government. It will have a huge impact on the health sector," said Dr Sobhan Rath, a medicine specialist at a private clinic.

Despite being happy with the development, some people voiced their concerns on the maintenance of the services at the government facilities.

"Capital Hospital has an array of good diagnostic services but most of them do not serve their purpose in absence of operators," said Anirudh Mohany, the attendant of a patient at this hospital.

A senior official of the health and family welfare department said the government had decided to outsource the service to ensure smooth operations.

"We are in the process of preparing a proposal," said the official.

"It will be submitted to the government for approval followed which steps will be taken to launch and implement the new scheme with ease," he added.