2018: A four-month-old infant whose parents brought her to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for urgent surgery for a hole in her heart was given a slot for the corrective surgery operation in 2023, resulting in a five-year wait.
Fast forward to June, 2024: A six-year-old from Begusarai, Bihar, has been left waiting for a heart operation at the premier health institute for the past six years due to “dates changed thrice.”
Despite the best efforts of his father, Ankit Kumar, who had been running from pillar to post gathering funds and blood, it was a long wait for treatment. However, it was only after the issue was highlighted in the media and the NHRC took suo motu cognisance that the hospital formed a panel to investigate the delays.
These are likely some of the longest waiting periods for patients at AIIMS Delhi and have been reported as such.
Welcome to India’s most prestigious medical institution, established as the country’s foremost centre of medical excellence. The bustling scene outside the hospital, with relatives of the patients lying by the roadside waiting for their turn outside the emergency wards, is a telling example of the stark disparity in healthcare access in the country.
While this flagship hospital draws thousands daily, it also highlights a critical shortage of specialist doctors and medical facilities both at the hospital and in rural areas, where the majority of India’s 1.4 billion people struggle with the challenge of reaching distant healthcare facilities.
On Thursday, The Pioneer visited AIIMS Delhi and spoke with the relatives of ailing patients, most of whom were suffering from serious conditions like blood cancer, some of them admitted in the emergency departments while a few were waiting for their turn. The hospital is visited by around 20,000 patients daily from across various states, particularly populous ones like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, and even far-off States of North-East.
Take the case of 45-year-old Jagan Ram from Kanpur. He has been running from pillar to post to arrange blood for his ailing relative, Radha Gupta (24), who is suffering from blood cancer. “We came here yesterday. Radha has been in an emergency, and her blood counts have gone down. The doctors said they have arranged one unit of blood, and since she will need blood transfusions whenever it is low, we are now arranging donors.”
Jagan Ram who lost his 18-year-old son to blood cancer a few years ago has a better understanding of the condition. “The doctors back home in Kanpur did not disclose the disease my son was suffering from. But now I have learned a lot about this health condition and what may come, I will ensure that this girl (Radha) does not meet the same fate.”
People come here seeking advanced medical care, specialised treatment, and expert consultations that might not be available in their local hospitals. The reputation of AIIMS for its high-quality healthcare services, cutting-edge research, and a wide range of specialties contribute to its status as a go-to destination for many seeking comprehensive medical care.
But for Mammu, a 20-year-old youth from Jaganpura Kauch, Jalon in Uttar Pradesh, it has been a restless day as he silently writhe in pain on a stretcher in the open with the weather behaving nastily.
His attendant said he’s having thick blood problem.
“The concerned doctor is not here. So we have been asked to wait outside,” said 40-year-old Jagat Singh, attending to the patient. The medical report showed that Mammu’s hemoglobin level has shot up to 25, contrary to the normal 14-15 hb. He might be suffering from a disorder that causes the body to produce too many red blood cells.
Yet another relative of a patient with co-morbidity such as TB and diabetes outside the emergency ward said he is trying for a ‘recommendation’ so that his ward could get a bed. This hospital has its own reputation, with doctors dedicated to their profession. This is what makes patients flock to this hospital, he said matter-of-factly.
Outside the hospital, one can see the adjacent streets are crowded with patients and their families from distant places, all seeking remedies for their or their loved ones’ health issues. “We’ve been living on the footpath for the past two weeks and have been coming to the hospital for the last five years for my son’s treatment,” rued Ramwati from Rajasthan’s Alwar district.
Her son suffers from chronic asthma, a condition marked by inflammation that restricts airflow from the lungs. As securing a hospital bed is a significant challenge, they are doing everything they can to ensure the little boy receives the necessary treatment. In fact, this is the travail of almost every other patient and their relatives on the roadside.
Conceding that the six new AIIMS like hospitals at underserved States in Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Jodhpur and Rishikesh have failed to ease the pressure on AIIMS Delhi, a senior official in the Union Health Ministry blamed faculty shortages, resource crunch, and infrastructural deficiencies. Besides these six States, more AIIMS like institutes are coming up in other States too.
Public health specialists believe that this state of affairs is largely due to flawed health policies adopted by successive Governments. Anant Bhan, a researcher in global health, said merely naming an institute ‘AIIMS’ does not guarantee it will be held in the same esteem as the one in Delhi. “AIIMS Delhi has earned a reputation for quality and affordability, but the new centres face challenges that need to be overcome,” he stressed.
