NEW DELHI: Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (
AIIMS) are a hassled lot. They are bombarded daily by letters of recommendation from politicians seeking admission of patients from their constituencies.
In an appeal to ministers, doctors have asked them to stop sending such letters and approach the Prime Minister (PM) and Health Minister (HM) with their requests, as AIIMS is already overbooked.
“We receive two to four thousand recommendations daily on letterheads of MPs and MLAs. These ministers do not even take into consideration the limited availability of beds at AIIMS. How can we admit so many patients?” asked AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association president Dr. Harjeet Singh Bhati, while showing a letter one Delhi MP sent for a kidney patient.
Bhati said that because the premier hospital in the country is already overbooked, recommended patients don’t get appropriate treatment.
“If these leaders are really concerned about proper recovery and timely treatment of their patients, then I request them to send as many letters to PMO and HMO as they send to us. They should urge PM to improve health facilities and services in their constituencies,” he said.
Such recommendations aren’t fair to patients already at AIIMS either, said doctors.
“It would be unethical if we start ignoring the need of patients already admitted and instead paid attention to those patients whose commendations we get,” he added.
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