New scheme for elderly, patients

The state government is preparing to launch a new scheme in which old people and patients will be provided qualified nurses. The scheme will be named after Florence Nightingale, said state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant. Currently, people have to go to private agencies to hire nurses. The minister said that the service made available by the government will be much cheaper than the private agencies.

“Currenly, people can hire nurses only from private agencies. We are now planning to introduce a government scheme in which nurses can be hired for taking care of old age and ailing people. Government charges will be much lower than what private agencies charge,” Dr Sawant said.

Various private agencies operating in the city charge in access of Rs 1,000 for 12 hours duty of a nurse.

The minister further informed that the officials have been asked to prepare a detailed plan of the scheme. “We are assessing the requirement of number of nurses, cost of the scheme and other aspects of it,” he said.

Speaking about the efforts being taken to operate trauma center on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Dr Sawant said that the state is taking help of Siddhivinayak temple Trust to fund the trauma center.

While the trust will has agreed to fund the project, the government has decided to tie up with two nearby hospitals to provide medical staff in case of emergencies.

The trauma center was constructed in 2014, but it has remained non- functional. The government has once again got serious about operating the trauma center after the recent spate of fatal accidents on the expressway.

“The first half an hour after an accident is crucial to save injured persons. We have decided to tie up with Sushan and Sahyadri Hospital for providing medical staff. A neurosurgeon is required to attend the accidents victims immediately. Therefore a neurosurgeon will be flown from these hospitals in a helicopter to the trauma center,” Dr Sawant said.