Kidney research centre grapples with shortage of beds

Priya Shah,Transplant Co-ordinator at IKDRC,said: “Ethically,we cannot allow patients to sleep on the hospital floor. Many of these patients who have come from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have been sleeping in the gardens,but we have no space to accommodate them.”

IKDRC has a 400-bed facility and even its newly constructed Transplant Tower capacity has a waiting list of 25-30 liver transplant patients.

Gujarat has been attracting a huge chunk of medical tourists in the country for over two years now. But in the last seven months,the private and government hospitals combined have been unable to accommodate the massive surge of patients,a huge chunk of which comprise foreign nationals who come in for cheap transplantation and treatment.

At present,the state has 300 patients visiting the nodal transplantation centre each day,but now the waiting period for organ transplantation,which earlier ranged anywhere from one and one and a half years,is also likely to rise as a result of the sudden influx.

Shah said: “At least 15 per cent of the total patients are foreigners. We have to ask many to come down after a few months due to the long waiting list and space crunch. Patients from neighbouring states who cannot return are having a difficult time due to the space crunch.”