A Parliamentary panel has taken exception to the low bed occupancy rate at the six new AIIMS, commenting that it speaks volumes about the ‘prevalent distrust’ in the healthcare facilities at these institutes in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh.
Giving instance of the dismal bed occupancy just 37 per cent against 40 beds in the obstetrics and gynaecology departments of the six new AIIMS, the panel said that the institutes which were anticipated to serve as an excellent centre of medical care have failed miserably to accomplish the desired objective of healthcare to all.
In its report on the “functioning of the six new AIIMS (Phase-1) under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana”, the panel headed by Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav also recommended that the new AIIMS should be included in the Mera Aspataal (My Hospital) initiative of the Health Ministry that captures patient feedback for services received at the hospital through multiple channels such as SMS, outbound dialling (OBD) mobile application and web portals.
It also called for quarterly assessment of the bed occupancy rate in all the six AIIMS and said the institutes should submit a status note citing reasons for its failure towards optimum utilisation of tertiary care facilities and low bed occupancy rate.
The panel was also curious to know if the establishment of the AIIMS in the six States has had any impact on the patient load in AIIMS Delhi from these States. “The idea behind regional AIIMS was to provide tertiary health care facilities in all the States so that the local patients do not have to rush to AIIMS Delhi for even basic medical care.
“Therefore, the Committee desires AIIMS Delhi to submit a report on the impact these new AIIMS like Institutions had on patient load. AIIMS Delhi should also submit a report on the number of Patients that were transferred from the regional AIIMS to AIIMS Delhi,” said the report.