On 21st October 2022, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi withdrew the letter written to the Joint Secretary of the Lok Sabha on 17th October 2022, regarding SOPs for special medical care arrangements for sitting MPs in AIIMS. This decision was taken by the chief administrative officer of the prime medical institute after doctors registered their protest to the preferential treatment being given to the members of parliament by writing a letter to the Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandviya on 20th October 2022.
The letter by AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas regarding medical care arrangements for sitting MPs in AIIMS has been withdrawn with immediate effect. https://t.co/5aPXLJBAF9 pic.twitter.com/x7mE8i9sxF
— ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022
In the new guidelines laid down by the AIIMS, there were certain provisions to treat the sitting MPs as a priority if they communicate so in advance. Doctors protested this decision and wrote to the union health minister asking him to revoke this policy. Following controversy over the issue of the alleged ‘VIP treatment’ facilities for current 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subject cited above (medical care arrangements for honorable sitting members of parliament in AIIMS) may be treated as withdrawn with immediate effect”.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 culture in the medical treatment of MPs were made on social media. In an apparent bid to counter this allegation, AIIMS Delhi had also tweeted saying that it always had a 24×7 Control Room for the co-ordination of medical care of patients from all walks of life.
AIIMS New Delhi has always had a 24×7 #ControlRoom for co-ordination of medical care of patients from all walks of life
— AIIMS, New Delhi (@aiims_newdelhi) October 19, 2022
Residents&Faculty from Dept of Hospital Administration work here to ease logistics and expedite trt for poorest of the poor#MedicalSocialWork#HealthForAll
In another tweet, AIIMS New Delhi said that Patients visiting it for various ailments are seen at AIIMS 24×7 without any registration charges. Moreover, all investigations charged less than Rs 300 have been exempted.
Patients visiting AIIMS, New Delhi for various ailments are seen at AIIMS 24×7 without any registration charges. All investigations charged less than 300 INR have been exempted so 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 said that they always stand against VIP culture, and will never compromise with the same.
#Breaking
— FAIMA Doctors Association (@FAIMA_INDIA_) October 21, 2022
Victory for everyone!
We always stand against #VIP culture!
We will never compromise with our stand!#SAY_NO_TO_VIP_CULTURE @aiims_newdelhi Director had to withdrawn letter of Special treatment for #MPs!
We thanks every #RDAs & #Media who supported us in this fight! https://t.co/nF3LH0hxlZ pic.twitter.com/TLpU2hfzhn
FAIMA Doctors Association president Dr. Rohan Krishnan thanked union health minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya and AIIMS Delhi director Dr M Srinivas for the withdrawal. He said that they are satisfied with this move.
The special arrangements proposed by AIIMS for MPs
Dr. M. Srinivas, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, sent a letter on Wednesday to Y.M. Kandpal, Joint Secretary of the Lok Sabha, asking that the Outpatient Department (OPD) and emergency consultation services for Members of Parliament be streamlined in accordance with the SOPs decided by the institute.
The letter said, “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 further mentioned, “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 in 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 doctors
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) wrote a letter to the Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya demanding to immediately revoke the letter written by AIIMS Director Dr. M Srinivas regarding medical care arrangements for sitting MPs in AIIMS. In this letter, the doctors said, “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 regarding the immediate revoke of a letter written by AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas regarding medical care arrangements for sitting MPs in AIIMS. pic.twitter.com/c93sWrAPG7
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2022
The doctors further wrote in 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 in terms of health care is unacceptable to us as it is against our Hippocratic Oath and the soul of each and every doctor of the country.”
The 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.”
