1700 additional beds to be added in AIIMS: J P Nadda

The Minister said the capacity of Safdarjung hospital will be increased by adding 1,300 new beds.

Nadda said both AIIMS and Safdarjung hospital receive more than 9,000 OPD patients each daily and the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital receive around 5,000 such patients a day.

He said the capacities of RML hospital and Lady Hardinge medical college will be increased by 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

The Minister said the number of patients visiting central government hospitals was much more than their handling capacity in terms of number of beds, manpower and other resources.

These hospitals do not only attend to the patients of the city but also those from neighbouring states and other far-flung areas of the country.

"As a result, there is a waiting period for certain procedures, which varies from Department to Department in these hospitals. As such, various clinical departments make their own waiting lists of patients in need of admission, taking into consideration the (condition of) patients, urgency of treatment required and bed availability on a particular day," he said.

Nadda said online registration has been introduced in capital's hospitals, including AIIMS, and so far 11 central government hospitals have introduced this system and over one lakh appointments have already been taken using this facility.

At present, the system is in a nascent stage and its functionality and performance is closely monitored for further improvisation. Immediate remedial measures are taken to address any shortcomings in the operation of the system, he said.