New blood bank in UDH to open by March
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Makang

Ukhrul, February 20 2022: If things go as planned, the upcoming blood bank centre at the Ukhrul District Hospital (UDH) will be operational by next month.

An official source in the hospital has said that the hospital authority is rigorously pursuing the project and that by March the upcoming blood bank facility will be ready.

The lone government-run district hospital currently doesn't have a blood bank centre.

When completed and op-erationalized, the new blood bank will be the first ever such facility in the entire district.

Infrastructural development of the upcoming facility reportedly commenced last year.

It has been partially completed and is awaiting provision of requisite manpower and other machinery and equipment.

Necessary preparations for setting up of the new facility have been made, including its designated site, space and rooms inside the hospital fulfilling all the requisite criteria.

A space comprising two rooms measuring 20x36 feet and 8x10 feet has been earmarked for the purpose, the source informed, while adding that the rooms are well lit with adequate availability of electrical sockets for blood bank equipment.

24-hour supply of electricity with provision of power backup generator, along with a provision of 24-hour running water tap with sink has also been provided.

One air conditioner machine fs already available for the blood bank to maintain ambient temperature.

Among the already installed equipment items included a Blood Roller Mixture, a Blood Bag Tube Sealer, an Auto Haematology Analyser, an Auto Chemist Analyser, an ELISA Plate Reader, an ELISA Plate Washer, two Blood Bank Refrigerators and a Platelets Incubator.

According to the source, the services of at least one medical officer (MO), three staff nurses, three lab technicians, three Grade IV staffers and two sweepers to run the facility are needed.

It said that MO Pathologist will have to be designated as medical officer in-charge of the blood bank from among the available pool of doctors posted at the UDH.

The hospital is currently short of staff nurs-es and is running with less than 50 per cent sanctioned post strength.

As such, posting of fresh three staff nurses for three shifts of eight hours duty each will be necessary to make the centre a fully operational unit, the source said, while adding that similar strength of lab technicians will be required for the same shift pattern.

At present, only two lab technicians are posted at the hospital for in house laboratory.

Thus, additional services of three lab technicians are required for round the clock functioning of the upcoming unit.

It is reported that the existing pool of Grade IV staffers are limited and that additional staff would be needed.

Same is the case for sweepers who need to be posted for 12-hour round the clock duty on rotational basis, the source mentioned.

Necessary furnishings are also required to run the upcoming facility.

It is learnt that a host of other machinery requirements are yet to be installed.

The requirements included Blood Collection Monitor, weighing machine, Clabscale (SF400c), refrigerator with UPS backup, Olympus Compound Microscope, desktop com puter set, Blood Striper, benches for patients/blood donors, stethoscope, BP instrument, ice boxes, blood grouping reagents, plains & citrated vials, glass slides, blood bags, deep freezer and others.

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