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Cancer Care Crisis: PGIMER Staffing Shortage Threatens Patients
7 Feb
Summary
- PGIMER's oncology department faces critical staff and infrastructure shortages.
- Annual OPD sees 60,000 patients, overwhelming current capacity.
- Bone marrow transplant and ICU units critically understaffed.
- Expansion plans focus on a proposed advanced cancer center.
The Department of Clinical Haematology and Medical Oncology at PGIMER is facing an acute crisis due to insufficient staff and infrastructure. This super specialty department, carved out from internal medicine in 2022, manages a substantial patient load, with around 60,000 outpatient visits annually, predominantly for blood cancer cases. The current facilities are struggling to cope with this influx, leading to staff working extended hours.
The department requires significant augmentation, particularly in nursing officers and resident doctors. Critical areas like the bone marrow transplant unit and the intensive care unit are short of essential personnel. Hospital administration is providing ad-hoc support, but a permanent staffing solution is imperative.
With patient numbers across super specialties at PGIMER steadily increasing over the past decade, departments treating cancer are looking towards the proposed advanced cancer centre at the Sarangpur satellite campus. While new regional cancer facilities have emerged, PGIMER's extensive range of services makes its expansion crucial.
