Treating VIPs: AIIMS under fire for issuing preferential treatment SOPs

File image of AIIMS, New Delhi

Doctors’ associations have opposed an SOP issued by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on medical care arrangements for sitting Members of Parliament and their referred patients.

The doctors allege that such SOPs for people’s representatives tend to promote a VIP culture in hospitals.

Opposing the move, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) said there should not be any discrimination between patients based on their socioeconomic strata.

“If at all the SOPs are to be framed, they should first be for the general public and countless patients standing in long queues outside, who are getting dates for surgeries in 2024! The constraints of health infrastructure are well known and they shouldn’t be diverted to other channels, but be used in a more optimum manner for general patients. A public servant shouldn’t be given priority over the very public he/she serves,” said Dr Aviral Mathur, FORDA president.

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Mathur added that Indian hospitals need to be augmented to combat long waiting periods for people who are financially challenged.

M Srinivas, AIIMS Director, had on October 17 issued the SOP aiming to streamline medical care arrangements for sitting MPs.

The order said that the Duty Officers from the Department of Hospital Administration, who are qualified medical professionals, will be available in the control room round the clock for OPD and emergency consultation and in-patient hospitalisation of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs.

The SOP said that all other patients who are referred to AIIMS for consultation or treatment by the MPs will also be provided due assistance by its Media & Protocol Division.

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The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) objected to the SOP by AIIMS and has written a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

“The SOP by AIIMS is a very unfortunate order, it seems the authorities are only concerned about the health of elected MPs and not of the common people. it is against our ethics. I would request the Prime Minister to direct the AIIMS director to revoke this order as it promotes VIP culture,” said Dr Rohan Krishnan, FAIMA president.

Kuwar Danish Ali, the Lok Sabha representative from Amroha, told Moneycontrol that the AIIMS SOPs should not be termed as a ‘preferential or VIP treatment module’. Rather, he said, it should be looked at as a method to facilitate treatment for the needy.

“We are representatives of people, when patients from weaker sections of our constituency come to us, our letters of reference should help that patient. That is not happening today and we have complained about this issue,” said Ali.

“We refer only sick patients who can’t afford treatment but our letter doesn’t often help the patient in getting treatment. Something has to be done about it,” the Amroha MP added.

While AIIMS director Srinivas did not respond to calls on why such a circular was issued, an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the SOP was issued after officials from the Lok Sabha visited the campus and urged the authorities to streamline medical care arrangements for sitting MPs and their referrals.

“The SOPs are not new. The facilitation of patients referred by MPs and treatment of MPs has been part of the protocol in AIIMS since 1990,” said the AIIMS official.

MC Mishra, a former AIIMS director, said the SOPs issued in the hospital were not new as previously Duty Officers from the Hospital Administration used to assist Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs for OPD and emergency consultation and in-patient hospitalisation.

“This is not a new norm. It was always there, the AIIMS director has only provided a structured operating procedure of existing rules,” Mishra added.

The SOPs. said Mishra, will not affect or hinder the functioning of OPDs and treatment procedures of common patients.