Delhi at standstill: Patient footfall plummets to 20 per cent at AIIMS

NEW DELHI: With the stringent traffic restrictions and diversions in the city due to the G20 summit, the public faced a hard time reaching health facilities which took them back to the lockdown days. The footfall of patients in the OPD and emergency plummeted to 20 per cent compared to the normal days.

At All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, only 3,751 patients came for consultation in the OPD against the daily average of 15,000. In its emergency, only 82 patients came as compared to the daily rush of around 400 cases every day, as per the data accessed by this newspaper.

The situation was similar at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital which comes under the controlled zone 1. “The patients’ footfall was reduced by half in both OPD and the emergency area,” a senior doctor said.

Interestingly, the number of follow-up patients was far superior to the fresh cases in AIIMS. Doctors said that the hospital has turned into a fortress and because of inconvenience in accessing the facilities, many patients could not reach for the consultation.” The gate no. 1 of the institute was closed while the route was also changed,” a senior doctor said.

Meanwhile, officials said that the follow-up cases were more because it’s difficult to get a fresh date if the scheduled appointment is missed. They also said that around half of the patients come from border towns of Delhi and due to traffic measures, the new appointees may have decided to wait for the next date. “The onus is on the city authorities. They should have made a clear announcement about what’s closed and what’s open. My patients are asking whether the roads are open or if the institute is closed for the next three days,” a senior professor said.

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