Measure success by lives saved, not just rankings: UP Governor tells SGPGIMS

Addressing the institute’s 30th convocation, Patel stressed transparency in healthcare, saying institutions should disclose treatment outcomes along with the number of procedures. “You performed around 300 heart surgeries in a year at Saloni Heart Centre. How many patients survived and how many did not? It is equally important to tell people the success rate of surgeries,” she said.

Governor Anandiben Patel here on Tuesday urged Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) to shift the focus from rankings to patient outcomes, saying the success of a premier medical institution should be measured by survival rates, research impact and public service rather than accolades alone.

Governor Anandiben Patel (Deepak Gupta/HT)

Addressing the institute’s 30th convocation, Patel stressed transparency in healthcare, saying institutions should disclose treatment outcomes along with the number of procedures. “You performed around 300 heart surgeries in a year at Saloni Heart Centre. How many patients survived and how many did not? It is equally important to tell people the success rate of surgeries,” she said.

The Governor said healthcare institutions should evaluate themselves not only through infrastructure and national rankings but also through measurable outcomes, including patient recovery, research quality and community outreach.

Turning to the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, Patel pointed out that while many large families receive health coverage, several genuine two-member families remain outside its ambit. She urged governments to address the gap so that eligible beneficiaries are not left without financial protection.

Expressing concern over outside food deliveries to hostels, she suggested institutes ensure hygienic and nutritious meals within campuses. Referring to reports from some parts of the state where drugs were allegedly supplied through tiffin boxes, she said outside food deliveries should be discouraged in hostels.

Describing SGPGIMS as one of India’s top three medical institutes, the Governor said the next milestone should be to become the country’s number one medical institution within a year.

The Governor devoted a major part of her address to women’s health, stressing the need for preventive healthcare and wider awareness about cervical cancer. She said thousands of women had died because awareness about the HPV vaccine remained inadequate despite its availability. She also asked whether patients at SGPGIMS were benefiting from the Union government’s decision to reduce customs duty on over 70 essential cancer medicines.

Emphasising research and innovation, Patel sought details of projects submitted by SGPGIMS to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and said she would personally review their progress at Jan Bhavan.

She also pointed out that classrooms at the Emergency Medicine and Trauma Centre had leaking roofs and lacked basic teaching platforms for faculty members.

Touching upon adolescent healthcare, Patel reiterated the need for regular medical examinations of girls around the age of 13, when menstruation begins, and advocated counselling programmes involving both mothers and daughters to improve awareness about health and hygiene.