The Uttar Pradesh government’s efforts to strengthen intensive care units (ICUs) in district hospitals are yielding results. In seven district hospitals, where ICU specialists have been trained, 1,498 critically ill patients received timely treatment and recovered, a senior official said.
With ICUs in 10 district hospitals now fully operational and specialist training ongoing for 19 more hospitals, the state’s healthcare infrastructure is rapidly improving, ensuring advanced medical care closer to home, he added.
Principal Secretary (Health and Medical Education) Parth Sarathi Sen Sharma shared that CM Yogi Adityanath’s vision to strengthen ICUs across all district hospitals started taking shape in February 2024.
Under the CARE-UP (Critical Care Advancement and Readiness Enhancement for Upcoming ICU Professionals) programme, selected doctors and paramedical staff were trained to operate ICUs and ventilators. He mentioned that the government assigned this responsibility to Prof Anshul Jain, head of the anaesthesia department at Maharani Laxmi Bai (MLB) Medical College, Jhansi, who is also the Director of MLB Paramedical College.
Sharma further stated that so far, two batches in Jhansi and one batch in KGMU (Lucknow) have completed their training. The trainees include doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and pharmacists.
ICU units are now fully operational in district hospitals of Lucknow (Civil Hospital & Lokbandhu Hospital), Barabanki, Gorakhpur, Banda, Jhansi, and Prayagraj. Additionally, doctors from Agra District Hospital, Meerut Women’s Hospital, and Kannauj District Hospital have also been trained, with instructions from the director general of training to activate their ICU units soon.
Dr Anshul Jain stated that training is ongoing for doctors and paramedical staff from Kanpur Nagar, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Moradabad, Varanasi, Chandauli, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia, Mathura, Firozabad, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Chitrakoot, Etawah, Shamli, and Muzaffarnagar. Once training is complete, ICUs in 29 district hospitals will be fully operational, reducing the need to refer critical patients to Lucknow.
The principal secretary further shared that while district hospitals already have ventilators and oxygen facilities, the lack of trained staff led to frequent patient referrals. The Yogi government took serious action to address this issue by training doctors and paramedics. Once all staff members are trained, district hospitals will be fully equipped to provide advanced critical care, transforming the state’s healthcare system.
“Eleven ICU beds are now fully operational here. Following the training, critical patients are being admitted without hesitation. Over the past months, hundreds of patients have received treatment here. The trained staff is now efficiently handling ventilators and other ICU equipment, ensuring smooth and effective patient care,” Dr Deepak Kumar Maurya, ICU incharge, Lokbandhu Hospital, said.
“Eight ICU beds are active here, and the training has greatly benefited the staff. Nurses are now operating ventilators and other critical care equipment, improving patient outcomes. As a result, the number of ICU patients at Civil Hospital has increased significantly over the past year,” Dr Abhishek Singh, ICU incharge, Civil Hospital, said.
