Calcutta Medical College and Hospital gets nod for heart transplants

Kolkata: In a major development of the health sector in the state, the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) has received clearance from the state Health department to carry out heart transplant.

This is for the first time any government run medical college hospital in the state has received permission from Swasthya Bhavan to perform the surgeries.

This comes at a time when a private hospital in the city successfully carried out a heart transplant on a patient who came from Jharkahnd for treatment. The state Health department had acted promptly in giving clearance to the private establishment so that the surgery can be performed successfully. The city police also contributed greatly by setting up green corridor between the Calcutta airport and the hospital so that the heart which was flown in from Bangalore can be dispatched to the hospital in the minimum possible time.

Now it's the turn for the Asia's oldest medical college to carry out such operations. In a recent notification issued by the state Health department, it was stated that the certificate of registration is valid for five years. The permission was given to CMCH after a team from the state Health department inspected the infrastructure issues. According to the government notification, the permission is given keeping in mind the current facilities and the staff strength of the hospital which was shown in the application form. Any reduction in the staff strength and facilities need to be brought to the notice of the concerned officials, says the notification. The certificate of registration has been granted to the hospital for performing heart transplantations under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994.

It may be mentioned here that the SSKM Hospital in the city is also one of the strong contenders to get the clearance for heart transplantation as the hospital authorities are taking all possible measures to put in place adequate infrastructure in the hospital. The SSKM Hospital authorities would submit a detailed project report to Swasthya Bhawan in this regard. It may be mentioned that kidney transplants are being performed in the hospital for sometime.

A heart failure clinic will open up at the Cardiology department of the hospital.

The doctors at the cardiology department of the hospital will examine and treat the heart failure patients at the clinic. The doctors would try to cure heart related problems of the patients through medicines. Those who would require heart transplantations would be referred to the heart transplantation unit which would come up at the cardiothoracic vascular surgery (CTVS) department of the hospital.