Names on waiting list pile up as rush of patients grows for bypass surgery at SSKM

Kolkata: A heavy rush of patients requiring bypass surgery free of cost at SSKM Hospital has recently contributed to the sharp rise in the number of patients on the waiting list.

Ever since the Mamata Banerjee government made health treatment completely free at all the state-owned medical colleges including the critical operations, the number of patients registering for bypass surgeries at the SSKM Hospital has kept mounting.

SSKM Hospital has always been the first choice of the patients in need of a critical heart surgery. As a result, the patients who want to get their bypass surgery done at the Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department of the hospital, have to wait for years for their turn.

As there is a huge burden of patients, the hospital authorities have no option other than maintaining a register. It sometimes becomes bothersome for the patient and their family members when a surgery is immediately required.

According to sources in the Hospital, the number of the patients waiting for bypass surgery has reached a figure of around 3,000. It has also been learnt that those who are currently undergoing bypass surgery at the CTVS department, had visited the outpatient department of the hospital and enrolled themselves for surgery in 2017.

SSKM is the only hospital in the state which conducts both CTVS, outdoor and surgeries, six days each in a week. The other four medical colleges in the city also conduct bypass surgeries, but critical patients are often referred to SSKM.

Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), NRS Medical College and Hospital and RG Kar Medical College and Hospital conduct outdoor and surgeries, three days each. The Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH) does not carry out bypass surgeries on a regular basis.

Therefore, the patients who have to get their surgeries done from a government hospital, have to wait in queue for a long time. There has been reluctance among the MBBS doctors in the city to pursue CTVS, which has further aggravated the situation.

It has been learnt that out of 25 seats in CTVS, only around 5 have been filled up in the last few years.

Many doctors, after graduating from a medical college, prefer to pursue Masters in other streams which they consider would be more 'profitable' for them in the future.

As a result, almost every year the CTVS seats go unfilled. Even getting into government service is never easy for a doctor in the CTVS department, because he/she needs to have a vast experience under his/her belt.