NEW DELHI: Patients are facing wait times of up to two years for complex surgeries at the AIIMS Delhi, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, informed Parliament.
He further stated that more than 1,500 patients have been on the surgery waitlist for over a year across various departments, with the majority of them awaiting neurosurgical procedures.
The responses were given in reply to queries raised by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman in the Rajya Sabha. The Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh) legislator had asked whether patients undergoing critical treatment at AIIMS are being subjected to long waiting periods for surgeries.
He also sought information on the number of patients who have deposited the requisite amount, but whose surgeries are still pending, along with data on patients suffering from heart, kidney, and liver diseases who have been given surgery dates extending beyond a year.
“In Cardio-Thoracic-Vascular Surgery & Neurosurgery, the critical and emergency cases are operated on when required. However, the general waiting period for planned procedures can be up to 2 years due to heavy patient load,” the MoS’s response read.
“The waiting period in General Surgery is up to two months and in Gynaecology, for critical cases of malignancy, the waiting period is up to three months. In Gastro-Intestinal surgeries, while critical cases are prioritised, the maximum waiting period could be in the range between three to six months,” the response added.
However, patients undergoing critical treatment in departments of Ophthalmology, ENT, Paediatrics, Burns & Plastic, Urology and Dental have no waiting period for surgery.
Jadav also informed the parliament that the number of patients waiting to be operated are 690 for Cardio-Thoracic-Vascular surgery, 1,324 for Neurosurgery, 305 for Surgical Oncology and 28 for Cochlear Implant surgery.
“No patients with heart diseases have been given dates for surgery exceeding one year. No patients with end-stage of kidney disease who have a renal donor have been given dates exceeding one year. There is no waiting period for surgeries of re-settable liver diseases. In cases of liver transplant, surgeries are dependent upon the availability of donors,” he stated.