Lok Nayak’s OTS won’t shut as govt promises to give equipment

NEW DELHI: In a relief for poor patients, four operation theatres at the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak hospital’s general surgery wing will not shut operations next month.

Last week, the head of the department had informed the Delhi health department that the OTS will be closed from December 1 “in public interest” due to lack of basic equipment.

“The department shall continue uninterrupted services in the operation theatres ... beyond 1/12/2019 in public interest,” the new office order issued on Wednesday said.

The decision to keep the OTS running was taken after the government intervened and fasttracked up the process of procuring the needed equipment.

“The government has assured the department of procurement of all essential deficient equipment in a time-bound manner without compromising quality. Further, the special secretary, health, would monitor the progress on the procurement process on a weekly basis,” the office order read.

Every day, 16 to 20 major surgeries are done in these OTS. And, yet there is a waiting period of almost a year for people in need of surgeries of the oesophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, and pancreas among others.

Lok Nayak, the biggest tertiary care hospital run by the Delhi government, has a total of 18 operation theatres, with the others catering to patients from neurosurgery, gynaecology, orthopaedics, paediatrics and ENT.

To ensure surgeries take place without disruption, the department needs OT lights, two OT tables to bear heavier weights, 12 patient transfer trolleys, 10 beds for post-operative ward and four laparoscopic sets immediately.

The department has been requesting for these equipments since June last year.

With just one laparoscopic set, the department has been providing “quality” services to patients with the help of another demo set lent out by companies manufacturing the device 18 months ago.

“People think laparoscopic surgery is for the rich but it is really for the poor as it helps them get back to work faster. This is the only Delhi government hospital that performs bariatric surgery and runs a fellowship programme on minimal access surgery. Yet, there were no laparoscopic sets,” said a doctor, on condition of anonymity.

The hospital performs about 2,000 minimal access or laparoscopic surgeries.

Of the four OTS in the general surgery department, one had not been running for more than two years because of a shortage of OT technicians. The government directed the hospital to start the procurement from the government e-marketplace, which can be used to procure common products and services by various government agencies.