Chandigarh, Feb. 7 -- With an ever-increasing patient load, the department of clinical haematology and medical oncology at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is facing an acute shortage of staff and infrastructure, the department head, Dr Pankaj Malhotra, said. Addressing a symposium organised in collaboration with the continuous nursing education cell to mark World Cancer Day, Malhotra said the department urgently needs expansion to cope with the rising number of patients, the majority of whom are blood cancer cases. Around 60,000 patients visit the department's outpatient department (OPD) annually, he said. At any given time, 50 to 80 patients remain admitted in the wards. To manage the existing load, staff members are working extra duty hours, but Malhotra warned that the patient influx is only expected to rise further. Clinical haematology and medical oncology is a super specialty dealing with blood-related disorders and cancers. At PGIMER, the department was carved out of internal medicine in 2022. During 2023-24, a total of 59,592 patients visited the department's OPD, including 10,065 new patients. Highlighting the staffing crunch, Malhotra said the bone marrow transplant unit is short of six to seven nursing officers, while the intensive care unit faces a similar shortage. In addition, the department requires at least six more senior and junior resident doctors. "The hospital administration is no doubt providing support by deploying residents on an ad-hoc basis, and the requirement for additional staff has been communicated," he added. Over the past decade, patient load at PGIMER has increased significantly, with OPD registrations rising from 20 lakh in 2013 to 27 lakh in 2023. While new facilities such as the advanced neuroscience centre and the advanced mother and child care centre have been added, patient numbers across other super specialties continue to climb. Departments treating cancer patients, including clinical haematology and medical oncology, are now looking towards the proposed advanced cancer centre at PGI's Sarangpur satellite campus, which received approval last year. Although several cancer institutes and tertiary care hospitals have come up in the region, including Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, PGI's Sangrur satellite centre and AIIMS Bathinda, Malhotra stressed that expansion at PGIMER remains crucial. "PGIMER, being an older institute, offers a wider range of super-specialty services that are not yet fully available at newer centres," he said....