BHUBANESWAR: Bagchi-Karunashraya Palliative Care Centre (BKPCC) that completed one year on Tuesday will rope in local NGOs to provide financial and educational support to patients and caregivers from economically backward sections of the society.
BKPCC is a collaborative effort of Bangalore Hospice Trust (BHT) Karunashraya and Mindtree co-founder and chairman of Odisha Skill Development Authority Subroto Bagchi for which the Bagchi family has pledged Rs 130 crore.
BHT Managing Trustee Gurmeet Singh Randhawa said a large section of cancer patients is deprived of proper support and care especially towards end of life in Odisha as the concept of home-based palliative care services is largely unexplored here.
“The Bagchi-Karunashraya home care team aims to alleviate this suffering both for the patient and caregiver and provide the necessary support at home. We aim to collaborate with NGOs and train the volunteers about palliative care so that patients from weaker sections of the society can get care at their doorsteps,” he said.
The trust has organised several training programmes about palliative care for doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. Three batches of government doctors and nurses from various district hospitals have been introduced to palliative care through introductory training held in Bengaluru in the last one year.
The BKPCC has provided treatment to around 600 cancer patients through its home-care and OPD services during the period. Although the centre being set up at Info Valley is expected to be ready by August next year, the home-based palliative care service is now catering to patients, who do not need hospitalisation. The centre is now functioning from the ground floor of the Odisha JEE Office building here.
The free home care service was soft launched on October 18 last year with a team of doctors, nurses, medical assistants and counsellors. They were recruited locally and trained in Bengaluru on palliative care. The team has already provided compassionate care to 280 patients over 1380 home visits till September.
The centre is getting home care referrals from Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer, Capital Hospital, AIIMS and other hospitals. In March, the centre started a weekly OPD service for patients.