National Cancer Institute opens in Jhajjar
Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Jhajjar, December 18
The country’s largest cancer hospital — National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Badhsa village here — started the trial run of its Outpatient Department (OPD) here on Tuesday.
The NCI, which is a project under Delhi AIIMS, will be headed by Dr GK Rath who is also the chief of Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS.
Over 20 patients were examined by cancer specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi, on the first day. The institute is spread over 50 acres. The facilities of X-ray, ultrasound, blood tests and biopsy have been made available at the OPD.
Sources say over 25 doctors having specialty in medical oncology, surgical oncology, onco-anaesthesia and onco-radiology will be available during the trial run between 9 am and 1 pm, while patients will be able to get themselves registered up to 11 am on all working days. The trial run for inpatient services will be launched from January 14.
According to AIIMS sources, the new centre will take off some load from AIIMS which receives more than 1,000 patients daily.
The foundation stone of the NCI was laid by the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, accompanied by then Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and then Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda on January 3, 2014. Later, Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Haryana CM Manohar Lal performed the “bhoomi poojan” in December 2015.
“The NCI is being developed at a cost Rs 2,035 crore. It will have 710 beds for different facilities like surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, anaesthesia, palliative care and nuclear medicine, besides 1,080 hostel rooms for doctors and 800 rooms for attendants of cancer patients,” said the sources.
The NCI will be the nodal institution for all activities related to cancer in the country and will have linkages with regional cancer centres and other cancer institutes within the country.
Once operational, the NCI will have 26 operation theatres, 15 laboratories for principal investigators, a separate diagnostics block and an affordable quality tertiary cancer care centre. It will collaborate with cancer institutes in the US, France and the UK. The NCI will employ 3,500 trained individuals and undertake clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines to treat cancer patients and improve survival rates and quality of life of patients.
Meanwhile, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda said the NCI was his dream project and he toiled hard to bring it to his constituency during the then UPA government.
Dr Angle Rajan Singh, project officer of the NCI, said the OPD would have the facility of treating 1,000 cancer patients in a day. All ultramodern facilities to treat the cancer patients would be available at the OPD, he added.
“Feedback will be taken from patients during the trial run of the OPD to remove shortcomings, if any comes to fore. The NCI will be inaugurated after the trial run of inpatient services that will start from January 14,” said Singh, adding that the project is nearing completion. The institute will be fully operational by next year.
Country’s largest hospital
50 acres Hospital area
Rs 2,035 cr Project cost
710 beds
1080 hostel rooms for doctors
800 rooms for attendants of patients
Jan 14: Trial run for inpatient services will begin
- 25 doctors having specialty in medical oncology, surgical oncology, onco-anaesthesia and onco-radiology will be available during the trial run between 9 am and 1 pm
- Patients will be able to get themselves registered up to 11 am on all working days
