The long wait may end soon as the Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, declared on Thursday that the patients will be able to avail MRI (Magnetic resource and imaging)/CT scans, free of cost. But the facility will only be available for the bonafide residents of Delhi who have been residing there for three years, with an income less than Rs.300,000. The Minister said, “Patients with an annual family income of less than Rs 300,000 and bonafide residents of Delhi for three years will be eligible for free MRI/CT scan facility.”
The government has decided that seven of the private diagnostic centers will provide free facility to the patients. The patients will have to provide a certificate of income and Aadhar card, ration card or driving license for residential proof. The minister further added saying, “The facility will be available at NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospital)-accredited MRI/CT scan centers on being referred by the medical superintendent or nodal officer of Delhi Arogya Kosh of an identified hospital.” The facility can be availed by taking prior appointment from the labs.
According to a daily mail, the patients at Govind Ballabh Pant hospital in Delhi were asked to wait till 2019 for an MRI scan because the hospital had one scanner alone which was not working for several months. The facilities which will be provided at the private centers will reduce the waiting period of the patients, especially those at GB Pant hospital. The facility will help in reducing the load on Delhi government hospitals, in turn, decreasing the waiting list for patients. The cost of an MRI scan at private centers usually range from Rs. 5000 – Rs. 10000. Thus the initiation to provide free MRI/CT scan facility will be beneficial to the people belonging to the ECS (Economically Backward Society) category.
