Cuttack, June 28: The state government has approved the plan for increasing the number of beds at the intensive care units (ICU) of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Postgraduate Institute for Paediatrics, popularly known as Sishu Bhavan, here.
The initiative is a part of the upgrade plan of having a 50 ICU beds at the institute and it is expected to put an end to the problem of waiting for beds.
On an average, around seven to eight patients wait for days to get an ICU bed.
"The proposals have already been cleared by the government and we hope that all the increased 15 beds will be made operational by this year end," said Sishu Bhawan superintendent Niranjan Mohanty.
According to the plan, the institute authorities decided to add eight beds in the paediatrics ICU, which now has 12 beds. Seven beds will be added to the neo-natal ICU. This move will play a crucial role in providing emergency care to the newborns.
"There is a shortage of ICU beds here and the addition of beds with advanced life-saving equipment will cater to the needs of the patients from across the state," said Sudhir Rout, a patient attendant.
Sources said the institute currently has 21 ICU beds. After the execution of this plan, the number will increase to 36.
The total bed strength at the institute has increased to 416 from 356 after the merger between the institute's paediatrics unit with that of the SCB Medical College and Hospital in 2013. The shift also led to an increase in patient turnout. The number of in-house patients increased to 20,082 in 2014-15 from the earlier count of 14,380 in 2012-13. There has been a 20 to 30 per cent rise in the turnout as the outpatient departments (OPD) registered an attendance of 1,10,381 in 2014-15 against 92,790 patients in 2012-13. Besides, the institute had conducted 5,193 surgeries in 2014-15.
A Sishu Bhavan official said two super specialty services, including the dental OPD and the hepatology OPD, had already been made operational.
The hepatology OPD is said to be one of its kind in eastern India. The facility also caters to the needs among children up to 14 years.
Besides, a special nephrology OPD will also be inaugurated and steps are also being taken for reviving the ENT, skin and orthopaedic OPDs here.
