AIIMS withdraws SOPs for treating sitting MPs after medical doctors protest

On twenty first October 2022, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi withdrew the letter written to the Joint Secretary of the Lok Sabha on seventeenth October 2022, concerning SOPs for particular medical care preparations for sitting MPs in AIIMS. This determination was taken by the chief administrative officer of the prime medical institute after medical doctors registered their protest to the preferential remedy being given to the members of parliament by writing a letter to the Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandviya on twentieth October 2022.

The letter by AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas concerning medical care preparations for sitting MPs in AIIMS has been withdrawn with instant impact. https://t.co/5aPXLJBAF9 pic.twitter.com/x7mE8i9sxF

— ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022

In the brand new pointers laid down by the AIIMS, there have been sure provisions to deal with the sitting MPs as a precedence if they impart so upfront. Doctors protested this determination and wrote to the union well being minister asking him to revoke this coverage. Following controversy over the difficulty of the alleged ‘VIP treatment’ amenities for present MPs, the chief administrative officer of AIIMS Delhi Deo Nath Sah wrote a letter stating, “letter dated 17th October 2022 on the subject cited above (medical care arrangements for honorable sitting members of parliament in AIIMS) may be treated as withdrawn with immediate effect”.

The AIIMS director withdrew the letter after allegations of VIP tradition within the medical remedy of MPs have been made on social media. In an obvious bid to counter this allegation, AIIMS Delhi had additionally tweeted saying that it all the time had a 24×7 Control Room for the co-ordination of medical care of sufferers from all walks of life.

AIIMS New Delhi has all the time had a 24×7 #ControlRoom for co-ordination of medical care of sufferers from all walks of life
Residents&Faculty from Dept of Hospital Administration work right here to ease logistics and expedite trt for poorest of the poor#MedicalSocialWork#HealthForAll

— AIIMS, New Delhi (@aiims_newdelhi) October 19, 2022

In one other tweet, AIIMS New Delhi mentioned that Patients visiting it for numerous illnesses are seen at AIIMS 24×7 with none registration prices. Moreover, all investigations charged lower than Rs 300 have been exempted.

Patients visiting AIIMS, New Delhi for numerous illnesses are seen at AIIMS 24×7 with none registration prices. All investigations charged lower than 300 INR have been exempted in order that Health care is #PocketFriendly #PMJAY #AyushmanBharat #SwasthBharat

— AIIMS, New Delhi (@aiims_newdelhi) October 19, 2022

After AIIMS Delhi withdrew the letter, FAIMA Doctors Association declared victory. They mentioned that they all the time stand in opposition to VIP tradition, and can by no means compromise with the identical.

#Breaking
Victory for everybody!
We all the time stand in opposition to #VIP tradition!
We won’t ever compromise with our stand!#SAY_NO_TO_VIP_CULTURE @aiims_newdelhi Director needed to withdrawn letter of Special remedy for #MPs!
We thanks each #RDAs & #Media who supported us on this battle! https://t.co/nF3LH0hxlZ pic.twitter.com/TLpU2hfzhn

— FAIMA Doctors Association (@FAIMA_INDIA_) October 21, 2022

FAIMA Doctors Association president Dr. Rohan Krishnan thanked union well being minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya and AIIMS Delhi director Dr M Srinivas for the withdrawal. He mentioned that they’re happy with this transfer.

The particular preparations proposed by AIIMS for MPs

Dr. M. Srinivas, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, despatched a letter on Wednesday to Y.M. Kandpal, Joint Secretary of the Lok Sabha, asking that the Outpatient Department (OPD) and emergency session companies for Members of Parliament be streamlined in accordance with the SOPs determined by the institute.

The letter mentioned, “In case a sitting Member of Parliament requires OPD consultation from a specialty / super specialty department the Lok Sabha/ Rajyasabha secretariat or personal staff of the MP will contact the duty officer and provide him requisite details about the ailment and specialist/superspecialist doctor to be consulted. The SOPs include duty officers who are qualified medical professionals from the department of hospital administration who will be available in the control room of AIIMS Hospital around the clock and the duty officer on duty will be the nodal officer to coordinate and facilitate requisite medical care arrangements for sitting MPs.”

It additional talked about, “The duty officer will speak to a concerned specialist or super specialist doctor or head of the department and will fix up a requisite appointment. In case it is so required we can speak to the Chief of the Centre or Head of the concerned department as well. In case of an emergency situation where the people’s representative requires immediate medical management, the Lok Sabha/Rajyasabha secretariat or personal staff of the MP will contact the duty officer and provide him with requisite details about the ailment. So that the duty officer can guide them as to which emergency services the MP should be brought to main emergency or Trauma Centre emergency or an Eye emergency.”

Dr. M Srinivas added on this letter, “In case of inpatient hospitalization MP, the treating faculty will send a brief note to the medical superintendent about the ailment or illness that MP is suffering from the proposed line of management and expected duration of stay. it will be countersigned by the medical superintendent and will be sent to the Lok Sabha/ Rajyasabha secretariat given email id by the medical superintendent’s office.”

Objection by the medical doctors

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) wrote a letter to the Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya demanding to instantly revoke the letter written by AIIMS Director Dr. M Srinivas concerning medical care preparations for sitting MPs in AIIMS. In this letter, the medical doctors mentioned, “It is very unfortunate that in an era where our country is fighting a battle against VIP culture and when you had gone to Safdarjung Hospital and Parliament Dispensary as an ordinary patient to see the care given to common people at these hospitals, a such letter has been released. This has really affected the morals of the doctors as it clearly indicates that AIIMS administration is itself having biases in treatment protocols for the general public and MPs and their Reference.”

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) writes a letter to the Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya concerning the instant revoke of a letter written by AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas concerning medical care preparations for sitting MPs in AIIMS. pic.twitter.com/c93sWrAPG7

— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2022

The medical doctors additional wrote within the letter, “FAIMA Doctors Association has earlier also written to Honourable PM regarding the prevalence of VIP culture in our hospitals and how it is affecting the vision of Honourable PM who is himself very much against VIP culture. We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to inequality in the health care setup because medical care and treatment protocols are patient’s specific and not person-specific and importance and utmost attention should be given to a person who requires it the most and not because of his/her social status. With the limited resources we have, we must be careful and plan to use our resources in a way that yields better care to everyone and we should never accept the policy of “better care to few & less care to rest”. Inequality by way of well being care is unacceptable to us as it’s in opposition to our Hippocratic Oath and the soul of each physician of the nation.”

The medical doctors concluded the letter by saying, “Also it is seen that such orders boost up the morals of people who do violence against doctors because our study has shown that 80% of violence against doctors is done by politicians or people related to some politicians. in this era, it is of utmost importance that we do not promote any policy that favors some and ignores the rest. Hence, we request you to take cognizance of this issue and direct to the officials concerned to immediately take back this letter and make sure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.”