LUCKNOW, June 18 -- Patients seeking treatment at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) are set to benefit from expanded super-speciality services after the institute appointed 87 new faculty members across key departments, strengthening its efforts to address longstanding staff shortages and rising patient demand. The newly recruited faculty include three professors, eight associate professors and 76 assistant professors. Institute authorities said the appointments would help increase specialist consultation capacity, reduce waiting periods and enhance treatment facilities in several high-demand departments. A major boost is expected in paediatric super-speciality care, particularly at the Saloni Heart Centre, where additional experts will strengthen treatment for congenital heart diseases, including heart defects, valve disorders and complex cardiac surgeries in children. Paediatric nephrology, gastroenterology and urology services are also set to expand, improving access to specialised care for young patients. SGPGI director Radha Krishna Dhiman said the recruitment drive is part of the institute's efforts to bridge faculty shortages that have affected several departments in recent years. He said the expansion would support both patient care and academic activities at the tertiary-care institute. Among the departments receiving the highest number of faculty members are anaesthesiology (eight), microbiology (six), radiodiagnosis (five), cardiovascular and thoracic surgery (four), transfusion medicine (four), cardiology (three), emergency medicine (three), endocrine surgery (three) and haematology (three). Critical care, trauma services and advanced neurosurgery programmes have also been strengthened through fresh appointments. New faculty have joined specialised units including paediatric cardiology, paediatric cardiac critical care, paediatric cardiac anaesthesiology, neurology, infectious diseases, endocrinology, pulmonary medicine, neonatal care and telemedicine. Institute officials said the large-scale recruitment would improve service delivery in several super-speciality disciplines while helping meet the growing healthcare needs of patients from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states....