Senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran said the Penang health department made the announcement on its social media page on Monday.
“CT scan services are only available from 8am to 5pm because of the lack of specialists, medical officers and radiographers.
“(The machine’s arrival) is a real relief for the people here as they had to travel long distances to other hospitals before this. Inpatients had to be transported by ambulances.
“However, (the hospital) should provide round-the-clock service to ease the backlog,” he told FMT.
Lingeshwaran said since the patient load is heavy, the ministry should redeploy manpower so the machine can remain operational through the night, especially in cases involving emergencies.
The department said only four radiographers from the hospital have been trained to operate the machine and prepare reports, adding that their services would likely be stretched.
“Although we face challenges such as the lack of manpower and consumable items, the hospital’s CT scan services will be extended to 24 hours once the manpower issue is sorted out,” it said in a Facebook post.
Lingeshwaran said the waiting list remains long, even though 31 CT scans have already been carried out between Aug 16 – the date of the machine’s handover – and Aug 23.
“The manpower problem must be resolved soon to help the waiting patients,” he said.
In the Dewan Negara in March, Lingeshwaran sounded the alarm on the shortage of nurses and health equipment in Penang, especially on the mainland.
He said several hospitals do not have much-needed equipment, while some others have the equipment but lack the manpower to operate them.
The former Sungai Bakap Hospital director said at the time that mainland Penang had four public hospitals serving some one million people but only one had a CT scan machine.
As the machine was only available at Seberang Jaya Hospital, patients from public hospitals in Sungai Bakap, Bukit Mertajam and Kepala Batas had to be transported by ambulance for CT scans in Seberang Jaya.
“The situation is exacerbated when this machine is out of order. When this happens, patients have to be sent to the hospitals in Kulim or on Penang island.
“I was made to understand that about 9,000 patients at the Bukit Mertajam and Sungai Bakap hospitals require this service annually,” he said.