The Department of Immunohaematology and Blood Transfusion (IHBT), headed by Dr. Nidhi Bhatnagar, was established as an independent department in 2005 and offers postgraduate training through the MD (IHBT) programme launched in 2006. The department currently has 7 sanctioned PG seats. It is staffed by five NMC-certified faculty members with extensive clinical, academic and research experience, supported by a dedicated technical team.

The department is a recognised leader in transfusion medicine in India. It is the first public-sector blood centre in the country to attain NABH accreditation (2010), a status it has continued to maintain. It is also the only centre in Gujarat offering haemophilia inhibitor testing — including screening and quantification assays — and provides advanced HPLC-based screening for haemoglobinopathies. The state-of-the-art facility uses high-throughput automated systems and is recognised by the National Blood Transfusion Council as a Model Blood Centre and a Regional Training Centre for Blood Transfusion Services in Gujarat.

Service volumes are substantial: the department conducts more than 300 blood-donation camps annually and collects approximately 35,000 blood units each year, supporting tertiary-care needs across the Civil Hospital campus. A robust haemovigilance programme tracks both donor and recipient adverse reactions, and daily and monthly data are uploaded to the Government of India’s e-RaktKosh portal for transparent inventory management. A comprehensive disaster-response framework ensures uninterrupted services during earthquakes, floods, conflict and mass-casualty events.

The NMC-approved curriculum covers advanced immunohaematology, component separation, transfusion-transmitted infection testing, therapeutic apheresis, cellular therapy and research methodology. The department conducts regular CMEs, workshops and hands-on training for postgraduates, medical officers, laboratory technologists, nurses and counsellors. Academic output includes over 30 peer-reviewed publications in the past five years, and the publication of the textbook “1000 Plus MCQs in Transfusion Medicine”.