NEW DELHI: In one of the many cases of a long wait for patients to get basic treatment, the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) gave an appointment to a woman for March 28, 2023.
Savita Devi had sought to get an MRI test done at the institute.Savita had been suffering from cancer since 2019. The appointments for MRI tests for the outpatient department (OPD) ward are being given for 2023 and even the admitted patients are getting their appointment with a delay of two days.
A hospital official said that if the patients needed to get the MRI on a priority basis and if their doctors gave a written recommendation, only then their cases are expedited.
Currently, the institute’s OPD department has only one MRI machine for 10,000 patients each day. When the Morning Standard contacted the AIIMS, it sidestepped the question saying it could be because of some miscommunication or a result of Covid-19 overload.
However, ever since the paper confronted the premier hospital with a copy of document mentioning the date, it has maintained silence, ignoring repeated requests for an updated response.
Savita got one of her kidneys removed. Speaking with this reporter, she said that she was earlier being treated at Safdarjung Hospital, suffering from stones, which later got infected with puss. After that, she had to get one of her kidneys removed. Adding to her misery, another kidney also got infected.
In 2019, the woman came to know about cancer in her kidney and was referred to the AIIMS, where she underwent four tumour removal surgeries.
When she visited the AIIMS MRI department, she was given the date of March 28, 2023. This is just one of the many cases where the hospital has given an appointment for as late as two years, just for an MRI scan.
Urmila Kumari, who has a tumour in her spine, was given the date of May 15, 2023, for an MRI test at the AIIMS.Urmila, who is staying in Kapashera, narrated her misery to the doctor after which her case was expedited and the long delay was reduced to three months.
Rakesh (35) is suffering from a chronic urine infection. When he went to the AIIMS in February 2021, the doctor asked him to get an MRI done. He was then given a date of April 2022.Luckily, an NGO got his MRI done at a private laboratory.
However, the doctor at the AIIMS, who is treating him, asked him to get the MRI films, and only then his treatment will be started.
Shortage of mri machines a major concern
If patients need to get MRI scan on a priority basis and doctors give a written recommendation, only then their cases are expedited. Currently, the OPD department has just one MRI machine for every 10,000 patients.