Patiala, Feb. 21 -- Despite the Punjab government's stated aim of reducing out-of-pocket expenditure for healthcare, a large number of patients visiting sub-divisional hospitals and district hospitals are not receiving in-house radio-diagnostic services, such as ultrasound and CT scans.

The findings have emerged in the government's own patient feedback survey at these hospitals, accessed by Hindustan Times. The survey was discussed at the two-day Civil Surgeon Conference held on February 16-17, which was attended by Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh.

The survey received responses from 18,244 patients across 23 district hospitals and 9,958 patients at 36 sub-divisional hospitals (SDHs).

According to the data, 37% patients at distri...