The Apollo Health City team at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad was led by Dr. P. Sharat Kumar, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon who performed the double hip replacement using the latest minimally invasive procedure – the Direct Hip Anterior. Both hips of Mr. Mukhtar Hilowli were fused following a severe bout of infection, way back in 1986. The hip joint comprises of femoral head (ball like) and acetabulum(socket). For easy movement of the hips the, femoral head moves in the acetabulum. In his case, due to the infection in both right and left hip joints, normal cartilage on the femoral head and acetabulum were destroyed and caused fusion of femoral head and acetabulum. This deprived him of the normal hip joint movement. The fusing of hips joints led to his hips losing the natural manoeuvrability and made his day to day life miserable. He had an abnormal gait on account of this, which made movement on both his legs arduous. His normal routine was impaired during the prime of his life and he had to endure the trauma for the last 31 years. His ordeal amplified in recent times, as he also developed pain in both knee joints and lower back, which was due to his abnormal posture and excess stress on these joints. After exhausting various options of treatment, he approached Dr. Paripati Sharat Kumar on December 29th, 2017. After thorough examination and investigations, Mr. Hilowli underwent sequential bilateral total hip replacements, with the right hip being replaced first on December 30th, 2017, followed by the left hip replacement on February 15th, 2018. According to Dr. Sharat, the conversion of a fused hip joint is extremely complex and challenging due to excess blood loss, poor bone and soft tissue quality, difficulty in orientation as evidence of joint surface is completely obliterated. As the joints had fused more than 3 decades ago, the surgery itself was quite demanding. In a first of its kind in India, Dr. Sharat used the latest and minimally invasive procedure – Direct anterior approach. This is considered the most preferred choice in hip surgery off-late, globally. The conventional approach involves making a long incision and cutting muscle that supports and stabilizes the hip joint. Whereas in direct anterior approach, the muscles are separated to reach and expose the hip joint through a 3 to 4-inch incision on the front of the hip. He elected this approach as the patient’s strength was poor around his hips and the joint stability would be further compromised by the conventional approach. Also pain and bleeding is relatively less and rehabilitation is quicker. The patient has since recovered well and is undergoing physiotherapy and rehabilitation. He is eagerly looking forward to go home and is wondering what his friends and relatives would call him now as he was for 3 decades nicknamed “the Crooked Gaited” says Dr. Sharat.

Ms Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals & President, CII inaugurated and delivered the keynote address. Also present on the occasion were Dr Somaraju B, Chairman, CARE Hospitals; Dr Guruva Reddy, Chairman, Sunshine Hospital; Dr Gopichand M, Chairman, Star Hospitals; Dr K Hari Prasad, President, Apollo Hospital; Organising Committee members Dr Amitava Ray, Organising Secretary; Ms Ishita Shively, Treasurer and over 300 participant Doctors from 23 hospitals. Medical profession is today at cross roads. Besides addressing the public health needs, doctors also urgently need to address professional and personal issues they face on a daily basis. In fact, often these aspects are ignored, the consequences impact the doctor and his family. This conference is making a beginning to address such issues and ensure an all-round growth of those in the profession. Speaking on the occasion Ms Shobana Kamineni said “Medical professionals need to constantly upgrade their skills and leverage technology. We need to allow more and more technology to come. If there are any who think that technology may make them redundant or replace people, they should realise that technology in fact creates more jobs, it makes their job more easy and efficient. Convergence of technology will make the journey little bit easier. The recently introduced Ayushman Bharat will be biggest job creator for India. While it opens access to better healthcare for 500 mn Indians, it is also a huge opportunity, it creates 50 mn jobs. India can become more vibrant. She said the top risks seen to mankind by analysts are climate change and worldwide pandemic, which is expected to emanate from the East. Also, the profession needs to build trust and that brings the best results. Today’s patient is little more educated and tends to question. Doctors should try and patiently respond to the questioning attitude of patients, which only makes the society richer and knowledgeable. It is for the profession to think out of the box, find solutions and deliver.” Dr Hari Prasad said “Trust between patient and Doctor is the most important factor. It is this trust which keeps the bond between patient and doctor strong. If there is a trust deficiency, it is due to multiple factors and leads to mis-communication between the two resulting in defensive medicine. To bridge this deficit, we all need to work towards making the bond robust. Healthcare itself is seeing lot of changes in practice, technology, access to healthcare is rising, public activism has gone up. In such a scenario, many doctors lack confidence to provide efficient care and this conference will build and instil the confidence among Doctors to provide the right care.” Dr Gopichand said “As medical care is becoming expensive and the patient has to meet these expenses from his pocket, he is not willing to trust every test the doctor prescribes. Once more and more people get medical insurance and cost of healthcare is not a burden on their pockets, the trust between patient and doctor will be restored.” Dr Somaraju said “The patient and doctor are not opposite parties. Their objective is the recovery of the patient and therefore we need to work towards restoring the trust before it erodes further. Ultimately loss of trust impacts everyone, the doctor, the patient and the system, but it hurts the patient most. There are issues with the doctors, hospitals, public, mediators especially politicians, media, unless we all discuss, the issue can’t be sorted.” Dr Guruva Reddy said “In a situation of distrust, what is right is more important than who is right. As diseases have also become hi-tech, which was not the case earlier, majority of the tests have become mandatory for the benefit of the patient. Doctors only wants to provide the best care to his patient.” Dr Alok Ranjan, Sr Neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospitals said “Every treatment has a gold standard, which is of course dynamic and as long as we are true and honest in dealing with every patient and are transparent in what we are doing and show empathy, there should not be a disagreement between Doctor and patient.” Dr Amitava Ray said “Some statistics reveal an alarming picture and abject ignorance on these vital aspects in the profession. The life span of Indian Doctors may be 10 years less than the mean life expectancy of our matched populace and around 2500 Doctors commit suicide every year and 90% of these Doctors are in the 24 to 38 age brackets. They face many challenges within the profession and outside, stress and poor lifestyle only hamper their progress. This conference is to sensitise the doctors to combat such challenges.” This Conference cutting across hospital and specialty boundaries, had mentors from 5 major hospitals, eminent speakers addressing the participants on issues those in the Doctor profession confront on a day to day basis like Building Careers, Law & Ethics, Financial Wellness & Personal Wellness and will delve into aspects like how to enhance their careers, manage finances, be on the right side of the law, keep fit, cope with stress etc. The Conference had 4 sessions addressing key areas that are not covered in any Medical School curriculum.

During the workshop, the Apollo hospitals team appealed to people through presentations on road accidents, casualties and surgery. Apollo Hospitals will soon launch traffic awareness drives through skit shows in rural district areas. Addressing the workshop, Consultants of Department of Neurosurgery Dr. Sunil Sharma and Dr Rajkumar said that during people often invite mishaps due to reckless driving, not following the rules and driving under the influence of alcohol. They said that in the case of road accidents, mostly people sustain head injury for not wearing helmets and many patients cant even be operated successfully , due to multiple injuries and shocks. “Knowing your risks is the first step in preventing and reversing the chances of mishaps”, they said and added that accidents mostly take place dur to negligence and besides the patient, the entire family suffers. Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Bharat Bhushan Borde informed that in the year 2014, India recorded about 4 lakhs road accidents which became 5 lakhs in the following year. According to International surveys, India ranks second for the largest number of road accidents with maximum number of deaths. Of the total about 30% of the deaths are of bikers. He said that in India, about 5000 road accident deaths occur due to reckless bike driving and 80% are due to head injuries because of not wearing helmets. Superintendent of Police Shaik Arif Hussain in his address said that Chattisgarh is the 11th most accident-prone state in India and most of the deaths are that of people aged between 15 – 35 years. He mentioned that people are aware of theirs rights but not their responsibilities. He said that Police personnel are always available to maintain law, order and traffic system but it is also the duty of the people to follow traffic rules and drive safely. He said that people must develop civic sense and decide which way they would like to shape the future of the next generation. He also added that it is the responsibility of every person to help accident victims and take them to the nearest hospital so that they can get primary treatment. People mostly die because of not receiving immediate medical attention after an accident. People who help accident victims will not be questioned by anyone. The workshop was also addressed by former Inspector General of Police Dilip Singh Rajpal and Chief Operating Officer of Apollo Hospitals Sujal Sen. Dignitaries including Chief Dietician, V Champa, Sumana Choudhury, Ajay Zade, Devesh Gopal, Senior doctors of the hospital, staff members, accident survivors, their family members and a large number of people from all walks of life.

As the world celebrated Valentine’s Day, the day of love and togetherness, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals organized, a unique event to celebrate the essence of the day. While some shower gifts to their loved ones, others offer something more priceless. The donation of an organ – the proverbial gift of life – was celebrated with doctors, patients, donors and loved ones celebrating sacrifice and eternal love at the event. More than 50 families, each of whom having experienced an organ transplant as a donor or recipient, gathered to mark Valentine’s Day as they thanked, celebrated and expressed gratitude for a new lease of life. They celebrated their stories of courage, hope and grit. The ups and downs in their lives seemed familiar to each other. They empathized with the emotional and physical challenges that their lives had been through. Through this though, they ultimately celebrated their triumphs, their lives and their collective futures. Mr. Ashok Bajpai, Managing Director, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said “We are honored to have touched so many lives through our transplant program. We are indeed fortunate to be the via media to ensure individuals and families get another shot at life, each of which is precious. Through this event, we would like to reiterate the need for more people to become organ donors in our country. While donation rates have increased, more awareness and action at the level of the individual is needed for India to become sufficient to take care of the disease burden of end stage organ failure.” Dr. Sandeep Guleria, Senior Consultant Surgeon, Kidney Transplantation, said, “Transplant surgeries saves many lives but many times due to lack of donors, precious lives are lost. For every one million people, only 0.08 organ donors are available in the country. This makes organ donation rates one of the lowest in India. We celebrate the religious and charitable donations. Similarly, we also need to instil in the community the spirit of enthusiasm to come forward and pledge to donate organs. This event is a step in this direction.” Dr. Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant Surgeon, Liver Transplantation, said, “Most transplants, especially liver transplants, occur between family members because of lack of other donors and sometimes also due to close genetic linkage. Through this event, on Valentine’s day, we wish to celebrate the spirit of love for family and humanity which helps in saving countless lives through organ donation.” Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals & Senior Consultant, Pediatric Gastroenterology, said, “Organ donation is the greatest donation one can make. This act of kindness is a gift of life for the patients and their families. On this day of love, nothing can express love better than gifting a new lease of life to someone. We are privileged to have earned the trust of so many families since performing India’s first successful liver transplant in 1998 and first successful combined liver kidney transplants in 1999. Through this event, we aim to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and the urgent need to increase the number of organ donors in the country to meet the requirements.”

Special awards were presented to 112 women, each who has been an achiever par excellence and made India proud with their stellar achievements. In the words of Minister for Women and Child Development Smt Maneka Gandhi, the awards under the banner of “First Ladies” are in keeping with the solemn spirit of ‘Empowered Nari’ and honours women who have excelled in their field, often believed to be beyond them.

The team of Dr. V. Surya Prakasa Rao, HOD, Cardiology; Dr. K. Venkat Reddy, Chief Cardiac Surgeon, and Dr. P. L. N. Kapardhi, at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderguda, performed a procedure using the most advanced Left ventricular assist device – “Left ventricular assist device” (LVAD HEART MATE 3). The 70-year-old patient Mr. Syed Afsar Hassan, from Jubilee Hills, was a high-risk case, having undergone bypass surgery (CABG) for triple vessel block way back in 1995 in Germany. He had also been implanted with stents for the blocked surgical grafts in Germany. As recently as 2015, he had a stent implanted in left main coronary artery at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderguda, for a fresh heart attack. He was also suffering from diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Being a redo case, the risk of operative mortality and morbidity was pretty high. He was a sick patient who came with a complaint of severe breathlessness, unable to move or lie down. The team had a challenge on hand as the patient was in an advanced age, sick and had several episodes of heart attacks, went into a heart failure and was getting into kidney failure too. Maximum medical management was attempted, with him not responding to any of the options and all efforts proved to be ineffective. He was given a device called CRT – D (Pacemaker like) to improve his heart failure, which showed partial improvement. The patient however was desiring a treatment which could give a better quality of life and enable him to pursue his business actively. The team explored the option of cardiac transplantation, but the patient’s condition, associated medical co-morbidities and advanced age made him unfit for that too. As the team had exhausted all options, they decided to opt for a relatively new procedure, with a mechanical heart called “Left ventricular assist device” (LVAD HEART MATE 3). This is the most advanced Left ventricular assist device available and functions on magnetic field, effecting higher revolutions or rotations. Blood clotting is almost negligible, thereby reducing the chances of stroke. Since the device was of lesser size, a relatively minimally invasive procedure was performed to implant it. This device did not need creation of pocket in the peritoneal cavity, unlike previous ones. The best part is that the unit has memory to adapt to the patient’s parameters quickly. Dr Venkat Reddy said “Patients of heart failure, those not fit for heart transplant, terminal heart patients and also those who had no other option, can immensely benefit from this procedure. It is essential to spread the message of this procedure being available for such patients, and that they no more need to lose hope.” Patient Mr. Hasan said “This is nothing less than a miracle, I was counting my days and never expected to recover so much. Today I am feeling excellent, I don’t have any pain even that of an ant bite. I was in the last stage of heart failure and it was the indomitable spirit of team of Doctors here which saved me, they left no stone unturned, they kept trying various options to get my heart back to normal and they went to the extent as a last resort to attempt this procedure by getting the device not available here, from abroad. I had an option of going to Germany to get treated, but preferred Apollo, Hyderguda, as from my earlier experience, I found the cardiac team here extremely competent. My message to patients is not to panic, we have several options and above all India and Hyderabad in specific , offer excellent medical care and you need not go abroad. Apollo is totally professional, they have a skilled team of doctors and staff, who are committed and of course the good technology they have. After a major and complicated surgery considering the patient’s and advanced age, lasting over 12 hours, he was implanted with this life saving machine. He has since recovered, but will have to be on blood thinning medicines lifelong and needs regular medical checks. He can now lead a normal life, attend to his daily chores, take care of his Business and even travel, with some restrictions. There were two cases of LVAD done in the Telugu states prior to this. But the device used here is more sophisticated and was being implanted in a very sick patient of advanced age, whose chances of survival was bleak otherwise. The procedure was done by Dr. K. Venkat Reddy, Dr. Pradeep, Dr. Shyam and Dr. Rafieq, under the supervision of Dr. V. Surya Prakasa Rao, HOD, Cardiology.

InnovaSpace, an organization with a board of advisors from around the world, helps nations develop space programs and TeleHealth initiatives, particularly, addressing issues related to providing remote health care to space tourists and astronauts. The MoU was signed by Prof. K. Ganapathy, Director, ATHS and Dr. Thais Russomano, Scientific Director, InnovaSpace in the presence of Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder & Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group at the International Workshop on Futuristic Healthcare Technology in Chennai. InnovaSpace works with Universities, Research Institutes, Scientific Communities and Government Agencies around the world to facilitate and implement space science and TeleHealth as a platform for National and International Development. Through its global web of experts and scientists, InnovaSpace provides assistance and guidance from concept to full space life sciences and TeleHealth programs leading to exploring opportunities enabling leadership and implementation. An immediate by-product would be making available “Smart Health Products” which are primarily developed for outer space. Apollo TeleHealth Services and Apollo Hospitals will provide intellectual property to design such products and eventually clinically validate prototypes in pilot projects. A 2-day workshop that was conducted strived to bring in an interdisciplinary engineering practice to develop affordable and innovative medical and healthcare devices. Experts from Aeronautical engineering, Mechanical engineering, Medical and Bio-Engineering & Technology areas and experts in the field of telemedicine and emergency healthcare systems came together to review the methodology and status of drone based Emergency Organ transport systems and to draw up a blueprint for emergency medical supplies in remote inaccessible areas in the country and Emergency Organ Transport across the country. Typical contemporary examples of interdisciplinary technological achievements are Medical Drones for organ transport and emergency medical supplies. Drones are an efficient, cost-effective and potentially life-saving method of transporting blood samples, products and organs and may one day be as commonly used as ambulances or helicopters. Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder & Executive Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Tamil Nadu leads the country in Organ Transplants and introducing drones will be yet another landmark. At this point of time, it is necessary to create awareness. It is imperative that innovative, affordable and good quality medical technologies are used by the majority of the population, to have access to better and appropriate technologies to match their health needs; this will enable disease prevention, early diagnosis and effective treatment. Deployment of drones for medical purposes in our country would create a viable means to leap over infrastructure inadequacies in serving every segment of people with Emergency and Quality healthcare.” He added, “Apollo Hospitals signed an MoU with InnovaSpace, a leading organization in Space Sciences and Space Medicine based in the UK today. The association gives Apollo Hospitals the privilege to be recognized as a future ready organization capable of providing telehealth facilities to space tourists in the near future.” The workshop also advanced in preservation techniques in liver transplantation and optimal transplantation of vital organs like heart, lungs liver and kidney. Over hundred experts across the field of Healthcare, Engineering and Information & Technology were present to discuss Future Healthcare Technologies and ways to implement them in India making the healthcare industry future ready.

Non-communicable diseases have been in the news lately, reason being that it is now the major killer in India. Non-communicable diseases mean the lifestyle diseases like heart attack, blood pressure, strokes etc. Out of the lifestyle diseases, the major killer is an acute coronary artery syndrome or a heart attack. The usual presentation of a heart attack is a chest discomfort, which needs immediate attention. Statistics show that 1 in 10 heart attack patients do not even get to reach to the hospital. In a heart attack there are two major ways by which the artery can be opened up and the best way is an emergency angioplasty. This is the gold standard which is being practiced all over the world today, but this requires cath labs and expert cardiologists to be available 24 hours. For the majority of people, living in the outskirts of the city, this kind of care is not available immediately so the way forward would be to give what is called a pharmacological treatment. Indians are seen to have heart attacks almost a decade earlier than the people living in the West. This means people in their productive best, that is in their forties and the fifties suffer from heart attacks. Speaking on this, Dr Debashish Ghosh, Senior Consultant, Cardiology, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals explained, “The most serious and the most life threatening out of all the cardiac diseases is acute heart attack. The next few hours after a heart attack is extremely crucial, hence it’s called the golden hour. If treatment doesn’t begin during the golden hour, the damage is permanent and hence Pharmaco Invasive Therapy, which establishes blood flow temporarily is essential as an immediate support. Patient can then be brought to a bigger tertiary care centre for further treatment. Thus Pharmaco Invasive Therapy can be helpful and is being developed in India to treat the problem urgently in smaller set-ups even in rural areas.” Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals also conducted a free health check camp at the Press Club for about 100 journalists. The tests included cardiac screening like ECG, BP, Pulse, BMI followed by consultation for general health. Speaking about the initiative Mr Rana Dasgupta, CEO Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals said, “We believe in prevention and always try to build awareness so that people take care of their health. It is often noticed that professionals ignore their health due to their busy schedule of work. Hence, we wanted to reach out to our media friends and offer them some essential clinical tests. The Centre of Cardiology at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, offers comprehensive treatment for heart problems and works round the clock to care for your heart in the best possible way. With eminent cardiac specialists, dedicated cardiac operation theatres, digitalized cath labs and cardiac ICUs, your heart receives prime attention. Medical management, immediate angioplasty, surgery – we do whatever is best for the patient round the clock.”

Apollo Hospitals announced the reaching of a rare milestone by performing over 100 Robot Assisted Myomectomies. Dr. Rooma Sinha, Senior Consultant Gynecologist, Minimal Access & Robotic Surgeon, Apollo Health City and a pioneer in Robot assisted surgery in this part of the world, accomplished this superlative distinction of performing the largest series of Robot Assisted Myomectomies, in South Asia. Fibroids in the uterus are the most common noncancerous tumors in young women of reproductive age. It causes heavy bleeding leading to anaemia, pelvic pain, pressure and pain in periods. They can be responsible for infertility and affect the quality of life for today’s active and dynamic women. Current management strategies are mainly surgical as medical options are limited. Removal of symptomatic fibroids with uterine preservation in women who wish to conceive or otherwise retain their uterus is referred to as myomectomy. Open surgery is commonly performed for women with large or multiple fibroids. Minimally invasive surgery carries several well-documented advantages with small scars and rapid recovery. However, removing large fibroids by traditional laparoscopy has been challenging. Even in the USA, 85% of such patients undergo open surgery. Minimally invasive surgery in this setting is a highly specialized skill that Dr. Rooma Sinha has developed in a career spanning over two decades. Starting in 1996, Dr. Rooma Sinha perfected laparoscopic techniques that enabled removal of such fibroids by laparoscopy in close to 70% of patients. However, that still left a section of women with difficult fibroids that just could not be managed by this technique. It is in this setting that the advent of Robot assisted surgery has come as a major technological advance that can complement the skills of a surgeon. Approved for Gynaecological surgery in 2005 in the USA, the technology was acquired by Apollo Health City in 2012. With magnified 3D vision, incredible human wrist like manoeuvrability, the robot quickly enables the surgeon to extend this minimally invasive technology to even the most technically challenging cases. In fact, subsequent experience has now shown that precision suturing of the uterus allows these women to safely become pregnant and deliver a child.

Over 2000 delegates from over 26 countries gathered at the 7th International Patient Safety Conference (IPSC) and the 8th edition of Revolutionizing Healthcare through IT (RHIT). The IPSC event witnessed collaboration with eminent speakers and international agencies including WHO, IMA, AIIMS, IMA, KPMG, JCI (US), NABH, NHS and leading Indian providers. Dr. Deepak Sawant, Minister of Public Health & Family Welfare, Government of Maharashtra and Dr Pradip Vyas, Health Secretary, Government of Maharashtra addressed the 7th International Patient Safety Conference. The Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Smt. Anupriya Patel addressed a Joint Plenary session on Patient Safety and IT in healthcare. Dr Deepak Sawant, Minister of Public Health & Family Welfare said, “I am glad, that an international conference is being organized on the subject of patient safety – which is very close to my heart. Today we have almost 6 crore people being treated in India and ‘affordability with safety’ is a concern for all. In this regard I would like to request accreditation bodies to minimise the clerical work involved and focus on the practical on-ground realities so that patient safety is accorded focus rather than paper work.” Commenting on the issues that patients and hospitals face today, he said, “It is important that hospitals train staff to manage not just the patients but also the family and emphasise communication and transparency so that incidents of patient distress are avoided.” Addressing the session, Smt. Patel said, “Patient safety and the use of technology in healthcare will be the great driving force for creating a health system that is accessible, equitable and affordable. The government is very keen in addressing the patient safety challenge and improving healthcare through IT. This we believe can be met through a cross-sectoral approach, that is partnerships, collaborations and policy formulations. I must commend Dr Reddy for organizing these two conferences on subjects that shall prove to be pivotal for the future of healthcare in our country.” Sharing his thoughts, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Chairperson and founder, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “We believe that patient safety is a subject of great concern and should be addressed on priority to counter the healthcare challenges. It is not just the role of government, but we as healthcare providers need to come together and bring in the global best practices on patient safety in India. I am glad to see such an overwhelming response to this initiative from all peers and public bodies.” Addressing the plenary session of the patient safety conference Dr. Preetha Reddy, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Safeguarding patient interest and safety requires us to adopt a holistic & systematic approach that extends across professional, cultural, technological and procedural boundaries. In order to do this, we have to increase engagement with patients, care-givers, the public, clinical partners, healthcare organisations, and the government. Unfortunately, while longstanding issues remain unresolved, new threats to patient safety emerge each day. Patient safety is the first principle and should be continually at the core of all we do. In order to do so, healthcare systems need to become accessible, affordable and accountable.” Talking on the adoption of the Mumbai Declaration, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals said, “The Mumbai Declaration marks a paradigm move to ensure that patient safety becomes sacrosanct to the way care is delivered. The declaration will make patient centricity, the bedrock in the age of Urbanisation and Democratisation of healthcare. We urge all stakeholders – doctors, hospitals, policymakers and the Government to further the philosophy of the Mumbai Declaration and usher in an era of quality care that is accessible to all.” The Mumbai Declaration on Patient Safety recommends that separate forums be created for antibiotic policy framework, facility safety framework, overall patient safety standards and a forum for measuring and monitoring outcomes at the government level. It recommends each hospital to drive on the principles defined by the declaration, which are as follows: Every hospital shall have a person designated for patient safety Every hospital shall have a Patient Safety Committee with representatives from medical services, nursing, engineering, housekeeping, pharmacy and infection control that shall meet every quarter Every hospital shall train all its employees on patient safety issues and hand washing Every hospital shall educate its patients on patient safety issues and give them opportunity to ask questions Every hospital shall have a policy and implemented system on reporting of adverse events within the organization Every hospital shall cooperate with one another and exchange information about adverse events, including errors, their solutions, and “lessons learned” to improve patient safety Every hospital shall collect rates for the following patient safety indices: Patient falls Pressure ulcers Needle stick injuries Medication errors (Prescription, transcription, dispensing and administration errors) Hospital acquired infections Antibiotic utilization Hand washing Other eminent speakers speaking at the IPSC event were, Sir David Dalton, CEO, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Ms Paula Wilson, CEO, Joint Commission International, USA; Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, National President, IMA & Dr Jayesh Lele, IMA, Mumbai Chapter. Speakers at the RHIT event included speakers like Alexander Thomas, Executive Director, Association of Healthcare Providers of India, Deepak Agarwal, Chairman, Department of Computerization AIIMS, New Delhi; Keith Fraidenburg, Executive VP & COO, CHIME, USA & Anil Bhansali, MD, Microsoft India Development Centre. The thematic topics of this year’s IPSC included Role of physicians in patient safety and quality improvement Use of data analytics to identify opportunities for improving patient safety

Seven Indian doctors have secured prizes from across 10 categories in the fourth edition of BMJ Awards South Asia 2017 that seeks to reward individuals and teams working tirelessly to improve the quality of healthcare across the region. The 2017 Awards, which received over 2000 high-quality nominations from eight countries across South Asia including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar and Maldives, spanned across a diverse and egalitarian mix of categories ranging from healthcare quality, medical education, technological innovation and research, and clinical excellence. “Every year, we wish to further raise the bar with BMJ Awards South Asia. We hope clinicians utilise this platform to showcase to the world how their efforts are transforming healthcare,” Prashant Mishra, Managing Director of medical journal BMJ India, said in a statement on Monday. While Ritesh Agarwal, from Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi won in the category “Infectious Disease Initiative of the Year”, Rajendra Prasad, from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, was declared winner in the category “Non-Communicable Disease Initiative of the Year”. In the category “Excellence in Medical Education”, Sonal Asthana, from Aster CMI Hospital, Bengaluru, won the award, while Lallu Joseph, from Christian Medical College, Vellore, secured first place in the category of “Quality Improvement Team of the Year”. Swati Mahendru from Manipal University, ranked highest in the category “Post Graduate Thesis of the Year”, and Lobsang Tsetim from Ramakrishna Mission Hospital, Itanagar, secured the first spot in the category “Surgical Team of the Year”. In the category “Maternal and Child Health Team of the Year”, Aarti Avinash Kinikar, from B.J. Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, Pune, won the award. “The work done by all the winners are of highest standards and innovative in approach, that eventually makes a positive impact on the lives of many a people,” added Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief, The BMJ.

The objective of the Times All India Lifestyle Hospital and Clinic Ranking Survey 2017 was to arrive at the list of top hospitals and clinics in India for the current year. The specialties that were included in the research were Orthopedics, Dentistry, Diabetology, Skin and Dermatology, Plastic Surgery, Hair (Trichology), Ophthalmology and Bariatrics. The categories in which Apollo Hospitals Group have ranked include Bariatrics, Diabetology, Orthopedics, Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, Skin and Dermatology.