Thursday, 07 NOVEMBER 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
With doctors being appointed and other facilities installed, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) ward at Gandhi Shatabdi Eye hospital is set to become operational in a week. Notably, both the Deen Dayal Upadhyay District hospital and Gandhi Shatabdi Eye hospital have been without a NICU ward for quite some time. Consequently, it became imperative to refer patients to the NICU ward at Government Doon Medical College and other hospitals. However, the recent directive from the State government made the hospital administration sit up and take initiatives to establish the NICU ward at Gandhi Shatabdi hospital itself.
Informing this, the medical superintendent of Gandhi Shatabdi Eye hospital, Dr V S Chauhan said that things are nearly ready for the NICU ward to become operational. “We need a week more and then the six-bed ward will start,” he said, adding that it would see up-gradation in time.
To ensure proper operation at the ward, the hospital had recruited two MBBSs and 10 nurses under the National Health Mission (NHM). Additionally, a paediatrician has been hired for the ward. Further, six security guards serving as medical attendants have been employed along with a data entry operator, he said.
Dr Chauhan further said that the nurses have undergone 15 days’ training at the GDMC for the NICU ward. Regarding the approved position at the NICU ward, he said that nearly all the required staffers have been recruited for the NICU ward. As far as paediatricians are concerned, two positions were approved for the ward. While one has been recruited recently the other one will be appointed within a week and once this is done, the long-awaited ward will start functioning.
To recall, two paediatricians were appointed earlier. However, they quit even before joining, citing lower salary offered compared to what they could earn at a private hospital. This left the hospital administration in a fix and it proved difficult to find replacements. And this was what delayed the inauguration of the NICU ward.
