Chennai: Tamilnadu’s capital city, Chennai, is known for having government hospitals with state-of-the-art instruments to cater to the medical needs of the public at large. However, regular blood donors in the city raise concerns of not having enough apheresis machines to store platelets.
Vignesh, a donor, who had gone to the Institute of Child Health (ICH), Egmore, to donate blood to a child suffering from cancer, was asked to go to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) to complete the process.
“When I asked the doctors the reason for directing me to RGGGH, I was told that they did not have platelet machine. Without wasting a minute, I immediately rushed to RGGGH. But I was made to wait till 6.30 pm to donate blood, despite my reaching the hospital well before noon,” said Vignesh.
He added, “The reason the employees gave me was that the machine was transferred to the Intensive Critical Care Unit (ICU) ward. I was also told that the technicians had left the hospital by 4.30 pm and asked me to come the next day.”
“The hospital is apparently the biggest in south India but they need to step up the quality of services they offer. Having observed the hospital for around five months, I find hat it certainly requires additional storage equipment, given the amount of patients that all government institutions receive in the city. When I visit private hospitals for donation, I get it done quickly without any hassles,” stated the donor.
Speaking about the lack of facility, ICH Director, Dr Arasar Seeralar, said, “We have requested the higher officials in the previous review meeting and talks are on.”
He further agreed that the donors are sent to RGGGH, the nearest hospital to ICH, and stated that having a device for their own would also cater to the needs of other hospitals like Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Kilpauk Medical College. “If any patient admitted here requires platelet, it is supplied from RGGGH,” informed the director.
However, as per Central government norms, single apheresis machine is distributed to every district, and in Chennai, it is available in RGGGH.
Well-placed sources asserted that there is only one device in the city. In addition, the source stated that they have prepared a list of requests received from government institutions, amounting to Rs 23,000 crore and have submitted it to the Centre.
WHY PLATELETS?
Platelets are critical for patients undergoing treatment for cancer, dengue and organ transplantation. It is stated that only limited blood donors are eligible for donating platelets as they need to have a central, wide and straight vein.