Palliative care wards planned for major Lucknow govt hospitals
Doctors and nurses from these two hospitals have already undergone training and workshops on palliative care under the guidance of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi.
Palliative care wards are being planned at Balrampur Hospital and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Civil) Hospital in Lucknow. As two of the city’s major government hospitals serving a large underprivileged and rural population, these facilities aim to establish specialised wards to accommodate more patients requiring long-term care.
Palliative care is a specialised medical approach that focuses to improve the quality of life of patients who have a serious or life-threatening disease, regardless of whether the patient’s condition can be cured.
Doctors and nurses from these two hospitals have already undergone training and workshops on palliative care under the guidance of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, as the first step in implementing this plan.
However, Balrampur and Civil Hospitals, as major government facilities in the city, constantly face a shortage of beds. Due to the lack of available beds in the emergency wards, doctors are often unable to admit many patients who require extended care.
“We often have to prioritise among patients who all need extended care, making difficult decisions about which patient requires it the most,” said Emergency Medical Officer at Balrampur Hospital, Dr Manish Srivastava. “There is a noticeable scarcity of beds in the hospital, and the emergency ward is nearly always full of patients, many of whom we cannot admit,” he added.
Regarding the need for a palliative care ward, he added, “When we receive patients who we know cannot be saved but still need treatment to stay alive, we often have to refer them to other hospitals, which they cannot afford. A palliative care ward in the hospital would be a great addition, along with more beds for patients.”
At Civil Hospital, director Dr Suresh Kaushal also expressed concern about the lack of adequate beds. “The number of patients we treat and need to admit exceeds our capacity, and we have written to the state government for funds to create new wards or another wing of the hospital,” he said. He further noted, “People are becoming increasingly aware of the need for palliative care in well-equipped hospitals. The right kind of medical attention and compassion is what most patients with chronic pain or terminal illnesses require.”
These two hospitals, along with nearly 20 others across the state, are investing in the first step—training doctors and nurses in palliative care with the goal of facilitating the same in government hospitals statewide. The efforts are being coordinated by Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, the nodal centre for this initiative.