SSKM Hosp gets separate facility for head-neck ops
Times of India | 12 February 2025
12 Kolkata: State-run IPGMER, which is also called SSKM Hospital, is getting a separate department for head and neck surgery, with a modular operating theatre (OT) and spruce patient wards.
The OT will be inaugurated on Wednesday though the hospital will start offering surgery in March, after some gadgets are installed.
Head and neck oncology surgeries could cost around Rs 3 lakh-Rs 4 lakh in a private hospital, with the entire treatment cost shooting up to Rs 10 lakh-Rs 15 lakh. But at SSKM, the services would be provided free of cost, said a hospital official.
IPGMER is among the few medical institutes across the country that introduced the MCh course in head and neck surgery. In mid-2023, the National Medical Council granted the medical college the approval to start four seats for this super speciality course. But the department started functioning under the Institute of Otorhinolaryngology—Centre of Excellence. "IPGMER is the only institute in Bengal so far to start the superspecialtiy course in head and neck surgery. More than 450 head and neck cancer patients are waiting to be operated on. We do perform such surgeries at the Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, but a dedicated OT under a separate department will reduce waiting time for patients," said ENT professor Arunabha Sengupta. Unlike other surgeries, head and neck operations, especially in cases of cancer, could take eight to 10 hours to finish.
An official at the hospital said the modular OT had all the latest equipment and infrastructure with three operation tables. Doctors said that a dedicated OT, with a separate wing for patient care, would help in the training of doctors.
Most of the head and neck surgeons in the state are trained at Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai, which has an equal number of seats as IPGMER. AIIMS Delhi has only two MCh seats in the subject.