PGI trauma centre to be functional by month end

LUCKNOW: The seven- storeyed, 300-bed trauma centre of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) is ready to take off. Spread in an area of 12,000 sq metres, it would provide level -1 facilities to the patients.

Director, SGPGI, professor Rakesh Kapoor said the trauma centre would be functional in the last week of this month .

Presently new CT scan and MRI machines are being placed in the centre. Professor Kapoor said, “With the start of this centre, it is expected that 60% load of accident patients on city hospitals would be reduced.” He added, “The trauma centre would have most advanced medical services in the region, including 8 advanced hi- tech OTs, with life support system on every bed.” In India, where over 1.25 lakh people die due to road accidents, this centre could play a vital role in saving lives. In UP, there was a road accident every minute and death due to road accident every fourth minute, said professor Kapoor. He said that there was a plan to set up a rehab centre on the premises in the near future.

According to him, patients who have suffered a severe injury often need physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. If the patient can get them under one roof then, it would be better.

To note, the SGPGI had lost the prestigious trauma centre project to the King George’s medical University (KGMU) in 2015. The then V-C of KGMU Prof Ravikant promised to run the facility at one-tenth of the cost demanded by the PGI to run the centre.

KGMU started the trauma centre but was not able to run it properly because it was conceptualized as a level I trauma centre , whereas KGMU never had the expertise to run a project of this nature.