The state health department has decided to open a zonal level training centre for the staff serving in the blood banks across north Bengal at the Regional Blood Transfusion Centre (RBTC) at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.
Mridumay Das, the RBTC director, said: “A zonal training centre for blood banks will be opened at the RBTC. We have the infrastructure ready and once it is functional, technicians, medical officers, and the nursing staff who are associated with government-run blood banks in north Bengal, can be trained here.
Altogether, there are 19 state-run blood banks in the region. Now, the staff at these centres need to go to Calcutta for annual training sessions.
Sources said the RBTC had sent a proposal to State Blood Transfusion Council for opening such a facility earlier.
The decision was made but the process of setting up the training centre got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Das also mentioned that even a few years back, there was only one medical college, NBMCH, in north Bengal.
“But now that there are five medical colleges in the region along with a number of hospitals, such a training centre was necessary. We hope it will start functioning soon,” he said.
