Hyderabad: There is a need to enhance the skills of neurologists, so that they gain the ability to diagnose brain death, and also create a pool of transplant surgeons in the government hospitals of both TS and AP. Currently, the pool of transplant surgeons is in the private sector. In fact, the expertise does not exist in the teaching hospitals of both the states.
A senior doctor in a government hospital said, “Specific equipment as well as skills are required to declare a patient brain dead.
There are three compulsory tests that must be carried out. Equipment and skills are both lacking.” Senior health officers revealed that the pool of brain-dead patients in the state-run hospitals cannot be tapped into for this reason. The government-run programme does not get any support from it’s own hospitals.
In a recent continuous medical education programme, a small group was given training. However, it was found that there is a strong need for building both capacity and resources so that the desired results can be derived. So far, Osmania General Hospital has carried out two cadaver kidney transplants while the Gandhi Hospital has not been able to carry out a single one.
