ConvaTec India has recently started Ostomy Service Representative (OSR) programme to provide proper care to ostomy patients in India. In this programme, ConvaTec recruits nurses and trains them to provide aid and consultancy to ostomy patients. At present ConvaTec has recruited 10 representatives for the programme and will be recruiting 14 more next month.

ConvaTec aims to multiply the number of representatives so that there are sufficient trained nurses to provide aid to the ostomy patients.

At present the 10 representatives are located in Mumbai, Pune, Gujarat, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bubaneshwar and Chennai. In Mumbai, there are three representatives, one each at KEM Hospital, Bombay Hospital and Jupiter Hospital in Thane. The programme was launched in the second quarter of this year.

Anand Shirur, CMD, South Asia and China, ConvaTec, informed that there are 1 lakh ostomy operation that takes place in India and we have only 40 to 80 nurses to take care of these patients. ConvaTec aims to increase the number of trained nurses by providing training to nurses.

He further says, “We have good number of doctors in India but when it comes to nurses, the number decreases. At present, we have only 40 to 80 nurses for 1 lakh ostomy patients. This is the reason why we thought of starting OSR programme in India. This programme will keep on multiplying the representatives. At present, we have 10 and we are planning to recruit 14 more and they are well qualified nurses. We not only provide products for ostomy patients but also train the nurses to treat the patient and use the technology through our Advance Wound Care Clinic”.

Recently ConvaTec has also launched Mouldable Technology in India which helps in preventing skin complications as it eliminates gaps between the pouch and skin of the patient. Soft, pliable adhesive rolls open to fit desired stoma size and shape, with no cutting necessary. The flexible adhesive gently hugs individual stoma contours creating a secure, personalised fit.

Ostomy is a surgery to create an opening from an area inside the body to the outside to treat certain diseases of digestive or urinary systems. The opening, called a stoma, allows stool to pass directly out of the body. It can be permanent, when an organ must be removed. It can be temporary, when the organ needs time to heal. The organ could be the small intestine, colon, rectum, or bladder. With an ostomy, there must be a new way for wastes to leave the body.

ConvaTec offers medical products and technologies in ostomy care, wound therapeutics, continence and critical care devices. It has also built state-of-the-art wound clinics in order to train nurses and medical practitioners, who eventually take the products to the end users.

The company has established two state of the art Advanced Wound Care Clinics in partnership with Narayana Health and MS Ramaiah Medical College in India. ConvaTec India has signed an MOU with ‘Healthcare to Home’ and ‘Medwell Ventures’ enabling inclusion of their products for healthcare services delivered at home.