• Hospital facing 10-month waiting list as spare parts await clearance

MRI services at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH) have been disrupted since 21 April due to a breakdown of the hospital’s MRI machine, prompting concerns over delays in paediatric diagnostic services, with the hospital facing a waiting list of around 10 months for MRI scans.

Government Radiological Technologists’ Association President Chanaka Dharmawickrama claimed that although the spare parts needed to repair the machine had already arrived in Sri Lanka, they were being held at Customs pending approval from the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).

Speaking on the matter, LRH Deputy Director Dr. H.S.J. Senapathi said that the ministry had already provided the relevant documentation to the NMRA, and discussions had taken place regarding the approval process.

Dr. Senapathi told The Sunday Morning that, as of Friday (22), the NMRA had provided the required documentation to Customs, and the spare parts for the MRI machine were expected to be cleared shortly.

“All the documentation from the NMRA has been submitted. We were informed that the parts were most likely to be cleared by this evening. Once they are received, we might be able to complete the repairs within a day or two, if that’s all that is needed,” he said.

However, Dr. Senapathi confirmed that the hospital’s MRI machine was still not operational at the time of inquiry on Friday.

“This MRI machine was installed around 2013. It has been 13 years, and it has reached its end of support. The company no longer supports this machine, so we have to purchase parts to support the machine and obtain special approval from the NMRA to get them installed,” he explained.

He said that the hospital was in urgent need of a new MRI machine and that requests for a replacement had already been made, but financial constraints were delaying the process.

LRH is currently Sri Lanka’s only specialised children’s hospital capable of conducting paediatric MRI scans, including scans requiring anaesthesia for younger children. Concerns have been raised regarding delays in diagnosis and treatment for affected patients, with the MRI scanner inoperational. Obtaining a paediatric MRI scan in the private sector remains highly expensive for families seeking urgent medical care.