Geriatric medicine department at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital

Kolkata: In a move to cater for the medical needs of elderly patients, the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) has established a new 30-bedded geriatric medicine department located on the fifth floor of NCB Bhavan of the CMCH.

This is for the first time in Eastern India that a 30-bedded geriatric medicine department has been created that will serve 50% of the beds for male elder patients and the other 50% for female elder patients.

The hospital's decision to provide treatments specialized to elder patients has been a remarkable move as most of the elder citizens in the city live on their own and are too weak to visit any hospital. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors who provide services at home have also become restricted.

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A person's health begins to deteriorate as they get older and the elders begin to neglect the condition by not paying attention. So the hospital has also recently launched a geriatric outpatient department (OPD) which is available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In order to address the patients properly, the hospital staff including doctors, nurses and other health experts will be given special geriatric training. The hospital will also offer MD courses soon in geriatric medicine.

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The newly launched department aims to treat elder patients suffering from dizziness, memory loss, depression, psychological revitalisation, vaccinations, fatigue, unsteadiness or weakness, physiotherapy, diet counselling, medication management, and preventing and managing fractures.

While speaking with mp, a senior official of the hospital said, "Around 5 beds have also been kept for the geriatric patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The step has been taken so that the elderly patients can be given comprehensive treatment. This is for the first time in Eastern India, that any government medical college has introduced a dedicated geriatric medicine department for holistic treatment of the elderly citizens."