A plaque has been erected at Royal Preston Hospital’s new Critical Care Unit in memory of Dr Prab Salpekar, a much-loved and highly-respected Lancashire physician.
Dr Salpekar, who passed away peacefully on Friday 21 February 2020, has been remembered for his outstanding services to Royal Preston Hospital.
Starting at Preston Royal Infirmary in the late 1950s, Dr Salpekar worked initially as a registrar, looking after multiple-injury patients and providing 24-hour care.
He would sit with seriously ill patients for a great deal of time to ensure they had everything they needed, resulting in an entire unit being dedicated to these types of patients, and he later became the founder of the Rapid Response team who are still prominent in emergency services throughout the country today.
Dr Salpekar was the Lead Consultant on the Intensive Care Unit and remained there until his retirement.
Dr Salpekar was key to the design and location of Royal Preston Hospital, working closely with stakeholders to ensure the hospital had the essential facilities for the people of Preston.
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However, the Intensive Care Unit was his main vision, and this was one of his biggest successes, as the Royal Preston Hospital was the first hospital in the North West to have an Intensive Care Unit.
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Sue Anderson, Dr Salpekar’s daughter, used to work for Royal Preston Hospital and is now Theatres Operations Manager at East Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Sue said: “There are a lot of medics who trained under my Dad and have the utmost respect for him as a doctor, mentor and friend.
“From my conversations with some of the staff, having worked at Lancashire Teaching Hospital recently as the SBM for Theatres and Anaesthetics, all staff grades thought very highly of him saying he was a brilliant doctor and man.”
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Professor Nihal Gurusinghe, Consultant in Neurosurgery at Royal Preston Hospital, said: “Dr Salpekar dedicated his life to patients. He was an extremely hard-working clinician and a fantastic colleague.
“We worked as a team when it was not yet a buzzword! He was the pioneer of the Critical Care Unit at Royal Preston Hospital, a professional of the old school with respect for everyone and a lovely man.”
The plaque is now up at outside the staff entrance to the newly expanded and refurbished Critical Care Unit at Royal Preston Hospital, so that any staff member entering the unit has the opportunity of reading the plaque prior to starting their shift.
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Did you have an experience with Dr Salpekar? Let us know in the comments below