Several private hospitals around the Colombo National Hospital have reportedly issued discount vouchers to doctors at the hospital, encouraging them to refer patients for MRI scans.
A spokesperson for the National Hospital told Lankasara that some of these vouchers offer discounts of up to 50 percent.
The reason for issuing such vouchers is that two out of the four MRI machines at the Colombo National Hospital have completely broken down, while the machine in the epilepsy unit is only partially functional. This has significantly limited the number of tests performed, forcing patients to seek MRI scans at private hospitals.
The spokesperson further stated that it is a serious concern that MRI examinations performed at private hospitals are being reported by specialists attached to the Colombo National Hospital and several nearby government hospitals.
Although these tests are not conducted within government facilities, specialists—who continue to receive their regular salaries and allowances—are reportedly earning additional income for interpreting these scans conducted by private hospitals.
It has also been revealed that even before the MRI machines broke down, specialists had been limiting the number of MRI tests conducted for nearly two months. Consequently, many patients who had already booked appointments for scans have had their tests indefinitely postponed.
Due to this situation, which has persisted for several months, a large number of patients are now forced to seek testing at private hospitals, often at a high cost.
Meanwhile, investigations have been initiated into alleged corruption in the process of establishing the hospital’s network system. The company responsible for installing the system has failed to pay the Ministry of Health the $3 million it owes, and has since deactivated the system.
Although it has been stated that tests cannot be conducted due to the breakdown of this information networking system, reports indicate that the same specialist doctors continue to conduct tests in private hospitals without any such networking facilities.
