Five months after the Gastroenterology department was launched on a pilot basis at General Hospital (GH), Ernakulam, it is set to be formally inaugurated in July. As part of the expansion of its services, additional equipment will be handed over to the department, Hibi Eden, MP, told The Hindu.

Mr. Eden said the role of the department was crucial as people from Ernakulam are forced to depend on private or government hospitals in other districts for treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. “While the department is currently limited to internal referrals from physicians, we hope to introduce outpatient [OP] services also. Once the department becomes fully operational, it will be a game changer,” said Mr. Eden.

The gastroenterology unit is in urgent need of additional manpower to facilitate its expansion, according to hospital sources. The department, which operates entirely through the voluntary services of a doctor and private sponsorship, began functioning in January on a trial basis in the hospital’s super-specialty block. The unit, the first such facility in a public sector hospital in Ernakulam, handles around 10 cases a day.

GH Superintendent Dr. Satish Narayanan said there were requests for launching OP services in the department. “But we cannot move in that direction now as we are short of manpower. We have sought the deployment of a senior resident for the department, which could help in offering more services to the public,” said Dr. Narayanan.

The department currently functions from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is limited to internal referrals from physicians and surgeons at the GH and the adjacent cancer centre. It offers colonoscopy, endoscopy, upper GI endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and related treatments.

Dr. T. Paulose George, a retired senior consultant gastroenterologist, who oversees the department’s operations, said upper GI cancers account for the largest share of cases treated in the department, with oesophageal cancer treatment also being common.

“The burden of gastrointestinal diseases is high, particularly liver diseases. There are no public sector endoscopic treatment services in Ernakulam. We need to increase staff strength and expand our services to address more patients,” said Dr. George.

Dr. George said running a gastroenterology department was expensive and required adequate funding, which was why such departments were rarely established in the government sector.