Patients are suffering greatly after three linear accelerator machines that provide radiation treatment to cancer patients at the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama have been out of service. There are five such machines at the Apeksha Hospital.
The machines have been out of service since last week, says Chanaka Dharmawickrama, President of the Government Radiology Technologists Association. He points out that the treatment of about 250 patients daily has been disrupted.
When entering into a contract for the maintenance of the machines, a condition is imposed that the machines must be restored to working order within three days of their failure. Failure to do so will result in a surcharge of one percent per day of the contracted amount being charged to the relevant company.