A woman who underwent an operation in a hospital in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was required by the doctor to buy a scalpel for the operation, Nanguo Morning News reported on Wednesday.

Surnamed Sun, the woman went to a hospital to have minimally invasive surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome on her hand on Nov 21. She paid 5,000 yuan ($820) to the hospital for the surgery and was told by the doctor that she had to buy the scalpel from a medical equipment agent for the operation.

Sun and her family had to pay 1,000 yuan to the agent for the scalpel.

When Sun filed a complaint to the hospital, a member of the hospital management said she did not have a case as she had signed an agreement to buy the scalpel.

But insiders said that it was unreasonable for the doctor to ask for a scalpel to be bought.

The newspaper is helping the patient to get a reply from the city’s health bureau.