Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital to nearly double bed capacity; focus on advanced paediatric care, medical education and patient-centric infrastructure
New Delhi: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda reviewed the functioning and development of Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and its associated hospitals—Smt. Sucheta Kriplani Hospital (SSKH) and Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital (KSCH)—with emphasis on healthcare infrastructure, specialised clinical services, medical education, research and patient care.
A major focus of the review was the ongoing expansion of Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital. The augmentation project will increase the hospital’s total bed strength from 394 to 894, while ICU capacity will rise from 40 to 200 beds. The number of Operation Theatres will also increase from four to 12.
The construction work currently underway on the KSCH campus is aimed at expanding tertiary and super-speciality paediatric services, besides creating additional capacity for undergraduate, postgraduate and super-speciality medical education and training.
Nadda calls for long-term, patient-centric planning
Addressing the review meeting, Nadda stressed that ongoing and future projects at LHMC and its associated hospitals should be planned around a patient-centric and future-oriented approach.
He called for project designs to incorporate expertise and best practices from leading institutions while maintaining high construction standards and closely monitoring timelines. The Minister also directed that issues requiring approvals or clearances should be escalated to the Ministry without delay.
Nadda emphasised that expansion of physical infrastructure and recruitment of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals must move forward simultaneously so that new facilities can become fully operational in a timely manner.
He also called for a comprehensive master plan providing a long-term institutional vision, combining immediate requirements with phased development over the coming decades.
The Minister encouraged the exploration of private-sector expertise and partnerships, wherever appropriate, in major infrastructure projects, while making quality, efficiency and patient care the central priorities.
State-of-the-art Skill Lab at LHMC
During his visit, Nadda inspected the Skill Lab at Lady Hardinge Medical College, a multidisciplinary simulation-based training facility designed to provide hands-on and competency-based learning in a controlled environment.
The facility includes dedicated simulation areas for ICU, surgical skills, simulated OT, Obstetrics OT, NICU, trauma, ENT and ophthalmology, along with briefing and debriefing spaces and task trainers for procedural training.
The Skill Lab supports undergraduate and postgraduate education, procedural skills development, faculty training, multidisciplinary team exercises and competency-based assessment.
Simulation-based learning and structured feedback allow trainees to practise clinical procedures and develop skills related to clinical decision-making, teamwork, communication and crisis-resource management, while supporting patient-safety objectives.
Advanced neonatal care facilities reviewed
The Health Minister also visited the recently operational Augmented Level III-B Neonatal Care Centre at Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital and reviewed its advanced newborn-care facilities.
The Department of Neonatology currently has 80 intensive-care beds and handles more than 10,000 deliveries and 2,500 NICU admissions annually. Overall neonatal survival is reported to be above 93 per cent.
The facility provides advanced neonatal services, including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), inhaled nitric oxide therapy, therapeutic hypothermia, advanced monitoring and comprehensive respiratory support.
The recently functional NICU-B comprises 7 NICU beds, 8 HDU beds, 15 Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) beds and 12 mothers’ cots. The unit places emphasis on family-integrated care, kangaroo mother care and breastfeeding support.
Strengthening medical education and specialised care
The review highlighted the broader modernisation efforts at LHMC and its associated hospitals, covering advanced patient care, specialised paediatric and neonatal services, medical education, simulation-based training and research.
The meeting was attended by Sunil Kumar Barnwal, CEO, National Health Authority (NHA); Dr. L.G. Krishna, DGHS; G.S. Chitra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Dr. Himani Ahluwalia, Director, LHMC; Dr. Arvind Kumar, Medical Superintendent, LHMC; Dr. Vikram Dutta, Medical Superintendent, LHMC; and Dr. Sujata Gautam, Principal, LHMC, among other senior officials.
The ongoing expansion and modernisation projects are aimed at increasing treatment capacity while strengthening specialised paediatric and neonatal care, medical training and institutional preparedness for future healthcare needs.