KARACHI: The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), which has been operating in the city for the past few decades, has earned a good reputation in just two years after the appointment of Prof Nadeem Qamar as hospital’s executive director.
Moreover, the present patients’ capacity of the hospital will be enhanced from 650-beds to 2000 beds in the coming five years.
In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, Prof Dr Nadeem Qamar, who did MBBS from Liaquat Medical College and completed his residency at Internal Medicines from Franklin Square Hospital, USA, said that the uplift work was underway to enhance the present capacity of the hospital up to 2,000 beds in the coming five years.
The construction work on Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit in the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) is in full swing, he said and added that the construction work, of course, takes time to complete.
The foundation stone of the 200-bed Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit in the NICVD was laid on September 26, 2014, and the project was to be completed within two years with the estimated cost of Rs 1.8 billion; however, the project was initiated in the recent past.
“After I took charge as the NICVD’s executive director on February 2, 2015, my team ensured the provision of the best cardiac facilities to the people of the province and those coming from other parts of the country”, he said.
The NICVD has been considered as the supply of cardiologists in Sindh and in the country, he said, adding that the patients’ care had been improved manifold. “NICVD is the single largest cardiac hospital of the world which is providing free of cost facilities to cardiac patients including the costly angioplasties. In 2017, NICVD doctors performed some 5,874 free angioplasty, Dr Nadeem added.
Elaborating further, Prof Qamar said that the NICVD had launched five mobile Chest Pain Units in the metropolis, including one in Gulshan-e-Iqbal in May 2017, Gulbai in July, Malir in July, and Nagan Chowarngi in November.
He said that at least 18,700 patients, including 13,661 male and 5,039 female patients, were examined by doctors and relevant staff deployed on the mobile units. Among, 18,700 patients, 8,399 were cardiac patients, 10,201 were non-cardiac; while 8,904 patients were referred to the NICVD and 9,796 were discharged, Dr Nadeem went on to say.
“We are planning to bring in 25 more units in the city and 40 units in rural areas of the province. This will be proving to be a best, free-of-cost and approachable service for poor and helpless patients,” he said.
Furthermore, Dr Qamar said that the NICVD Satellite Centre in Larkana was made functional on May 13, 2017, and it had benefited 704 patients by performing 91 angiographies, 160 early invasives, four elective PCI, and 499 primary PCIs.
The NICVD Satellite Centre in Tando Mohammad Khan was started on October 19, 2017, and so far 303 patients had benefited from it. He said that 80 angiographies, 101 early invasives, nine elective PCI, and 114 primary PCI procedures had been performed there.
While the NICVD centre in Hyderabad started functioning on November 25, 2017. It performed some 88 procedures: 88 angiographies, 10 early invasives, two elective PCIs and 69 primary PCIs.
Disclosing future plans of NICVD, Prof Dr Nadeem Qamar said that a 300-bed cardiac hospital will be inaugurated in the last week of February 2018 and cardiac hospitals in Nawabshah and Mithi soon after that.