Paras HMRI Hospital has become the first private hospital to get the mandatory licence from the state authorisation committee to start kidney transplants.
The government-run Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) was the first hospital in the state to conduct kidney transplants. It conducted its first two transplants on March 14.
Sources in Paras HMRI hospital said they were planning to start transplants next month. Hospital authorities said at present they were choosing transplant patients.
"We received the licence last week," said Ravi Shankar Singh, zonal director at Paras. "We have already started our preparations to start transplant by May 15."
According to Singh, though the exact details and pricing have not been worked out, the estimated cost would be around Rs 5 lakh. It includes the cost incurred on operation of the donor to get the kidney and medicines that would be provided post-operation to the recipient and the donor.
"We have brought noted transplant surgeon S.C. Karan on board, who has experience of conducting many renal transplant surgeries at Delhi's R&R Hospital. Karan is scheduled to join our hospital within 15 days. We will start the medical screening of the patients after he joins the hospital," said Singh.
Paras HMRI's nephrology department doctor Shashi Kumar said: "We have identified some patients whose family members are keen to donate kidney for patients. There are around 15 such patients. The norms say family members should be given priority for kidney donation."
Shashi said the hospital had already created the necessary infrastructure for starting kidney transplant. "We have separate operation theatre for the operation of the donor and the recipient. Besides, we have created separate wards for the donor and the recipient. There are separate pre-operative and post-operative wards," said Shashi, who had earlier assisted in many kidney transplant surgeries at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow."
The hospital has decided to get necessary tests like histocompatability (which determines whether the patient's body would accept or reject the kidney) done from a private hospital. "The norm is that if you don't have mechanism for in-house testing facility, you can collaborate with some other hospital to get the test done there. We have tied up with Delhi-based Quest Diagnostics India for this," said Singh.
PMCH recce
AIIMS Delhi surgeon V. Seenu, who played a major role in starting the kidney transplant at IGIMS, visited Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on April 4 to check the infrastructure available for kidney transplants. Veenu checked the facilities of the hospital along with IGIMS director N.R. Biswas. "We are now preparing a detailed plan as to what further infrastructure has to be created in the hospital to start the facility. Seenu is expected to visit our hospital next month to oversee the progress," said a senior official of PMCH.
PMCH was the first government facility where a kidney transplant unit was established - on March 31, 1987. However, the facility has remained a non-starter.
