New Delhi: Patients seeking non-emergency surgical procedures at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi may have to wait for up to two years due to heavy patient load at the medical institution, the Union government informed the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.
However, the Centre assured that critical and emergency surgeries across departments are being prioritised and conducted without delay.
“The general waiting period for planned procedures can be up to two years due to heavy patient load,” said Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav, who is also serving as the minister of AYUSH, in a written reply to a question by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman.
AIIMS Delhi is one of the largest tertiary care hospitals in the country. It functions autonomously under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and is visited by patients from across India.
The waiting period in general surgery for serious conditions can extend up to two months. In gynaecology, particularly for malignant cases, the wait is up to three months. For gastrointestinal surgeries, the timeline ranges from three to six months depending on the urgency of the case.
Cardio-thoracic-vascular and neurosurgery units continue to operate on critical and emergency cases without delay, according to the response.
But for planned procedures that are not urgent, the general waiting period can be up to two years, the minister said, underlining the burden placed on India’s premier medical institute.
As of now, 1,324 patients are awaiting neurosurgery, 690 are in line for cardio-thoracic-vascular procedures, 305 for surgical oncology, and 28 for cochlear implant surgeries.
The government clarified that no patients with heart diseases or end-stage kidney disease with an available renal donor have been given surgery dates exceeding one year. Similarly, there is no waiting period for surgeries involving re-settable liver diseases. “In cases of liver transplant, surgeries are dependent upon availability of donors,” Jadhav said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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