SSKM gets Health dept green signal to perform lung transplants

Kolkata: SSKM Hospital is all set to conduct lung transplants as it has already received a clearance from the Health department in this regard.

SSKM Hospital is the first government-run hospital in the state to get the permission. According to sources in the Health department, "Bengal has so far witnessed heart transplants in a government hospital but the idea of lung transplants is not only new in the city but in the entire Eastern region as well."

It may be mentioned that the hospital had got a clearance for heart transplants a few months ago. The Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) was the first state-run hospital in the state to obtain clearance to perform heart transplants and has already performed heart transplant on two patients. But SSKM is the first hospital to have adequate infrastructure to conduct both heart and lung transplants.

The hospital had applied for clearance in August 2018. It had submitted a detailed project report to the Swasthya Bhawan. Following this, the Health department carried out a survey in this regard, considering various aspects and was convinced after assessing the infrastructure.

As a part of infrastructure revamp, a heart failure clinic has also been introduced at the Cardiology department of the hospital last year. The doctors of the Cardiology department would examine and treat heart failure patients at the clinic.