RAWALPINDI - A large number of patients suffering from bone diseases are facing problems as five C-Arm X-Ray machines at Orthopaedic Ward of 507-bed Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) have not been functioning since long, The Nation learnt on Thursday. Two of these 5 machines, worth Rs 20 million, were donated by a Dubai-based company Shelum Bargar on appeal of the then Orthopaedic Ward Head Dr Nayyer Qayyum. He had made the appeal after October 8 earthquake to provide best medical facilities to the quake victims. BBH administration, however, bought the three other machines from an organisation APNA paying Rs4 million for each. APNA imports these machines from foreign countries. Instead of repairing these machines, the BBH administration has stopped operating the patients suffering from bone diseases and is referring even the serious patients to private hospitals for operation, which not only doubled the patients agony but also burdened with enormous financial pressures. Moreover, the hospital management has not floated a single tender for the repairing or maintenance of machines. In hospitals, C-Arm X-Ray machine is actually used for sensitive bone surgery. With the help of the machine equipped with a TV screen, doctors can view the bones of patients and pinpoint the real place to adjust a screw or rod in broken bone. It is important to mention here that BBH is the only hospital among Allied Hospitals (AHs) Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), which is equipped with Orthopaedic Unit providing health facilities to patients suffering bone diseases. We are sending our patients, who come in Orthopaedic Department for getting medical treatment or surgery, to other private hospitals, where they had to spend thousands for treatment and diagnosis a doctor, seeking anonymity, told this scribe. The patients and their attendants in BBH Orthopaedic Ward, while talking to The Nation, complained that BBH administration was not repairing these non-functional machines owing to which they (patients) had to go to private hospitals for bone surgery by expending a huge amount.