This is an archive article published on March 10, 2017
AIIMS scraps decision on separate OPD counter for VIP cases
Confirming the move, sources said, “The decision to set up the exclusive counter for patients recommended by the OSD to the health minister and other VIP references has been withdrawn following a meeting on Thursday."
HOURS after The Indian Express reported that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has decided to open a “new counter” at its out-patient department to cater “exclusively” to patients recommended by the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Union Health Minister J P Nadda and “VIP references” from MPs, the premier facility withdrew the decision.
Confirming the move, sources said, “The decision to set up the exclusive counter for patients recommended by the OSD to the health minister and other VIP references has been withdrawn following a meeting on Thursday. An official circular is yet to be issued in this regard. The media and protocol division, which has been co-ordinating VIP referrals, will continue to handle such cases.”
The Indian Express had reported Thursday about a circular issued by the AIIMS administration on February 23 on the “new counter” at the Rajkumari Amrit Kaur OPD.
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“In order to address the concerns of OSD to President, AIIMS and to streamline the OPD registration (new and follow-up) of patients recommended by the OSD to President, AIIMS and Members of Parliament, an additional counter shall be opened with effect from March 1, 2017,” the circular had stated. Health Minister Nadda also holds the post of president, AIIMS.
Sources said that Thursday’s decision was taken by the hospital administration headed by Dr D K Sharma, medical superintendent. They said that the earlier decision had been taken by the administration to make the “process faster”.
“The media and protocol division has always handled VIP referrals in the hospital. This division has moved to the new convergence block. From the convergence block to OPD is quite a distance. So it was felt that everything should be operated from the OPD block. This would have made the process faster and simpler for VIP referrals,” said a senior AIIMS official.
“Now everything will be handled at the convergence block itself. The earlier decision was taken to deploy fewer people for VIP referrals and avoid administrative inconvenience,” sources said. Sources said the decision to set up the the “exclusive counter” was taken “unilaterally” by the hospital administration, and that the faculty association was not consulted. “There was no requirement for a separate counter for VIPs. There is an online registration system, which everyone can use. This move was discriminatory in nature,” said a senior member of the AIIMS faculty association. On an average, AIIMS gets 10,000 patients daily at its OPD counters.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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