Professor Vivek Lal, Director, PGIMER, says there is a consistent endeavor to start exclusive facilities for patients at the institute, with the branching out of the existing departments on the cards, for more efficient working and to also save time of patients. Along with the registration of special clinics, the OPDs will also run at different times, so that patients do not have to stand in queue with other patients.

Recently, a weekly geriatric clinic on Thursdays, which focuses on the mental care of the elderly, was kicked off as part of an initiative of the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr Aseem Mehra, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, said mental health issues in the elderly are rising steadily and studies by the department in the last three years indicate that more men than women, especially those above 60 years of age are susceptible to mental health. issues. “We realized the need for an exclusive facility for the elderly, who may not get the attention they deserve, and for practical purposes, it is easier for them to come on a particular day and meet their doctors, without waiting for too long, as many travel from outside the city,” said Mehra.

The Department of Hepatology, in collaboration with the Department of Endocrinology and Dietetics, PGIMER, has started a new service for the patients attending the Liver Clinic in the New OPD complex on Monday and Friday. Professor Ajay Duseja, Head of Hepatology, said the purpose of starting the Metabolic Clinic within the Liver Clinic is to provide integrated, one-stop care under one roof to patients with chronic liver disease; many of whom have metabolic risk factors like overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.

“A lot of metabolic changes happen in the body with the onset of chronic liver disease and the development of hepatic fibrosis (scarring in the liver). Many patients develop diabetes mellitus (blood sugar) after the development of liver cirrhosis. Patients with metabolic dysfunction associated with steatotic liver disease (MASLD), earlier called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), typically occur in patients who have these metabolic risk factors of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and lipid disorders. Patients undergoing liver transplantation tend to gain body weight, increase in blood sugar, and blood pressure and derangement of blood lipids after the transplant. In general, these patients after being seen in the Liver Clinic are referred to the Department of Endocrinology and Dietetics for the management of these metabolic risk factors. Because of the tertiary care set of the hospital, endocrinology OPD being on different days and many patients coming from outstation, a significant number are not able to reach these specialty clinics. Having an integrated Metabolic Clinic within the Liver Clinic will facilitate these patients to have a consultation on the same day from the endocrinologist and dietitian who would be managing the Metabolic Clinic,” said Duseja.

Professor Sanjay Bhadada, Head of Endocrinology, spoke about the importance of an integrated metabolic clinic and point-of-care services within the liver clinic. Two more dedicated clinics – geriatric dentistry and preventive dentistry at the Oral Health Sciences Centre, PGIMER, started recently, cater to geriatric and adult patients in need of preventive and curative oral health care under one roof. The OHSC has been providing free preventive and curative oral health services to residents of all the old age homes in Chandigarh.

Data from the previous three years from PGIMER shows that 13-15 percent of women who suffered from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were less than 50 years of age. Risk factors of heart disease are much more common in women, and they have worse outcomes than men. A recent study, says Dr Neelam Dahiya, Assistant Professor, Department of Cardiology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, shows that 44 percent of women who suffered cardiovascular disease were obese.

“Considering these alarming facts, the faculty realized that the already burdened healthcare workers need a helping hand to prevent heart disease. So, it is imperative to upgrade existing knowledge among non-medical skilled professionals so that they can act as health promoters. At PGIMER, we are all set to start a preventive clinic for risk assessment, wherein we will use risk estimation tools available according to age, obesity, hypertension, activity level, family history, diabetes etc, and offer interventions to prevent CVD,” added the doctor

Such integrated clinics, said Lal, are the need of the hour and added that the department had taken another lead last year with another such unit – the Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) Counseling Clinic – in collaboration with the Psychiatry Department, which has shown positive outcomes in the previous year.

PGI patients admitted in wards, ICU cannot apply for private rooms in advance

Patients admitted in the PGIMER’s wards, intensive care units (ICUs), critical care units (CCUs), and labor rooms will not be allotted private rooms in advance as holding two beds simultaneously is not permissible, reiterated an order.

Given a shortage of hospital beds, once a private room is allotted, the patient should be shifted within 12 hours of allocation, otherwise the allotment would be cancelled, said the order by PGIMER Director Vivek Lal.

With the number of patients increasing at the institute and the waiting list for private rooms getting longer, the order considers the fact that when a patient is admitted to a ward or ICU, the attendants apply for a private room, and before a patient is discharged from a ward, CCU etc, the patient is allotted a private room, and in such a case, the patient reserves two beds, thus increasing the waiting time of patients. With this new order, if a patient is allotted a private room, while he/she is admitted to a ward and is not shifted to the private room within 12 hours, the allotment of the private room would be cancelled.

A staff member said that people apply for private rooms months in advance, as the waiting lists are very long. Two years ago, PGIMER had increased the rent of private rooms and VIP rooms, with the present rent being Rs 3,500 for a private room, which includes diet and lab charges, and Rs 6,500 for a VIP room.