With CT basic requirement, new PGI neurosciences centre awaits opening

Two major projects at PGI are the Mother and Child Centre and the Neurosciences Centre, which await opening. “CT is the basic requirement. By November or December, the CT scan machine will be installed. The new Neurosciences Centre will be open to the public, and our target is a January inauguration. While we were planning to start OPDs here before, we all agreed it would be inconvenient for patients to go to the other building for a CT and come to the OPD in the new centre, and decided to give patients all facilities under one roof,” said Pankaj Rai, deputy director (administration), PGI.

The institute had proposed equipping the centre with AI-based technology, proposing the purchase of an AI-enabled PET scan system, which would have cost, about Rs 75 crore, but the Standing Finance Committee did not pass the proposal due to the high cost. The proposal will be presented again and, according to Prof Vivek Lal, the effort is to ensure that the latest diagnostics and treatments are provided to patients with the latest technology. Among the new services available here will be an autonomic laboratory, essential for the proper management of patients suffering from peripheral nervous system disorders. Currently, there is no autonomic function test laboratory available in any of the premier institutes of Northern India. The lab will help provide the latest care to patients suffering from disorders such as autonomic instability, syncope, peripheral neuropathies and many other neurological illnesses.

With the opening of this centre, neurology patients seeking admission and treatment in the Emergency and Trauma Centre, will be shifted here, easing the rising patient load. A high number of patients, especially accident cases with head injuries, admitted to the trauma centre of the institute have to be treated for neurological problems. The expansion of the trauma centre and emergency medical OPD, according to Prof Lal, has been on the cards given the increasing number of patients, but with no space to add more beds or to shift patients to another area, the plan of renovation for better amenities and facilities has been on hold for long and once the centre is open, the expansion can be planned.

Prof Lal also announced manpower approvals for the new Neurosciences Centre, ensuring smooth operations with the creation of 399 posts. The 300-bed centre will cater to patients from across the region.