AIIMS mulls over referral of stable emergency patients to 20 nearby hospitals

New Delhi: In a bid to reduce the overcrowding at the emergency department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi the institute is considering developing a referral of stable patients from the AIIMS emergency department to 20 hospitals in its vicinity.

A number of key decisions were taken to improve the functioning of the emergency services at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi during a meeting held on 7th October 2022 under the chairmanship of the newly appointed director of AIIMS, Delhi Dr M Srinivas. 

Dr M Srinivas, who took the charge as the head of the prestigious institute, AIIMS Delhi on September 21 has taken several steps to improve the service delivery and functioning of various centres.

The head of the Emergency Medicine department informed that there is a shortage of beds for already screened and triaged patients due to which many patients have to wait outside. Focusing on the need to develop a referral policy between AIIMS & the nearby government hospitals, the director has decided to hold a meeting with the Medical Superintendents of all nearby hospitals.

The officials have reportedly identified around 20 hospitals around AIIMS where relatively stable patients can be referred from AIIMS which would subsequently help in reducing the long queue of patients waiting outside AIIMS' Emergency for admission.

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The meeting was attended by 13 officials including Medical Superintendent, Dr D.K. Sharma; Head of Emergency Medicine Department, Dr Praveen Aggarwal; Head of Obstetrics & Gynecology department, Dr Neerja Bhatla; Professor of Cardiology Department, Dr Rajeev Narang; Addl. Professor of Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr Jamshed Nayer; Officer I/C of Emergency Services Coordination, Dr Angel Rajan Singh; Associate professor in Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Akshay Kumar; Associate professor in Department of Emergency Medicine Duty, Dr Meera Ekka; Officer in Department of Hospital Admin, Dr. Srivatsa A; DNS in Emergency Department, Ms. Panjumati M; ANS in EM-1, Ms Anna George; ANS in EM-2, Ms Sudha Rao; and ANS in EM-3, Ms Pushpa Dalal. 

The director further observed the need to increase the number of patient trolleys with proper patient safety devices and the number of beds so that the patient can be wheeled on the same bed to different wards with minimal shifting. The Officer I/C of Emergency Services stated that they had already gotten 50 new trolleys with side rails in March this year, and 150 more such trolleys are slated to arrive by November of this year. After his rounds, the director, however, stated that the existing patient trolleys are rusted and do not have any patient safety devices.

Further, it was decided that one resident doctor would be posted from all broad speciality clinical Departments to the Dept. of Emergency Medicine to increase the pool of residents available in Emergency for screening, triage and care of patients. The resident doctors would be a part of the team of the Department of Emergency Medicine for that particular month.

The AB-3 ward of the Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, with the consent of the department's head, would be shifted to the MCH Block by 17th October 2022 to be used as an Emergency Patients Admission ward.

Earmarking 5 inpatient beds in the Departments of Cardiology and Neurology for admitting the Cardiology & Neurology patients from the emergency, the minutes of the meeting observed that no patients should be allowed to stay in the emergency observation or admission beds beyond 48 hours. The director has sought a compliance report on the same latest by 17th October 2022.

It has been decided that a consolidated proposal would be prepared for recruiting new members in the emergency department and would be submitted to the office of the Director, following which new sanctions would be accordingly taken from the government. The request for additional staff was made by the head of Medicine and DNS, Emergency Services. Meanwhile, the existing workforce in the department has been directed to put in their best to ensure optimal services.

Further, talking about the need to maintain cleanliness in the emergency patient care areas, the director warned that strong action would be taken against the agencies if any non-compliance on part of sanitation services providers are reported. 

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