Bhopal News: AIIMS Told To Cut Patient Wait Times, Ensure Medicine Availability

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): AIIMS Governing Body (GB) and Institute Body (IB) have been asked to reduce patient waiting time. Meetings held on Thursday focused on improving patient services.

Several important points were agreed upon, including reducing waiting time, ensuring uninterrupted availability of essential medicines, expanding various facilities and making hospital management more efficient through modern technology. Long-term strategy of the institute was also discussed. It was highlighted that AIIMS Bhopal has been consistently making significant efforts to enhance quality of patient services and streamline hospital management.

Waiting times at AIIMS Bhopal remain long for certain procedures. MRI scans have a waiting period of three to four months, CT scans around two months. General patient consultations can take up to 3–4 days, and OPD appointments often require several weeks. While measures like the “AIIMS Swasthya” app and plans for a new centralised cancer block aim to reduce waits, delays persist, especially for diagnostics and specific treatments.

Due to long waits, many patients seek expensive alternatives at private centres. Patients, particularly those from distant areas, face significant challenges in obtaining timely treatment.

Members of Parliament including Bhopal MP Alok Sharma, Bharat Singh Kushwah, Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha and others were present. The meeting was chaired by Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Mahapatra (President) and Prof. (Dr.) Madhabananda Kar (Executive Director & CEO).