With series of orders, new AIIMS director aiming at increasing operational efficiency at AIIMS New Delhi

New Delhi: With an aim for improving the operational efficiency and systems at the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, the newly appointed director, Dr M Srinivas has now taken a series of steps to bring things to order.

Known for the turnaround of ESIC Hyderabad into one of the busiest hospitals in the country, Dr Srinivas recently held a meeting with other hospital personnel to discuss measures to avoid unnecessary delays in the treatment of patients. Following the same several orders have been passed including one ending the controversial presence of Private sector touts on the campus of AIIMS.

Crackdown on Private Hospital Touts in AIIMS

One of the major steps, the new director has called for a crackdown on touts from private companies, hospital laboratories, radiology centers, establishments at AIIMS

"Recently, it was observed that some unidentified or unauthorised individuals belonging to certain private companies, hospital laboratories, radiology centres, establishments etc are roaming inside AIIMS campus to seek monetary gain from the patients visiting AIIMS New Delhi as well as facilitating OPD cards and admissions at AIIMS. These agents are also offering and diverting patients from the laboratory, radiology investigations at private laboratories, radiology centres some of these agents are selling medications, disposable surgical items and implants etc," a recently issued circular stated

The director has ordered to forbid any unknown person, vendors, agents, etc. from entering the grounds of AIIMS. Direction has been given to the security staff to ensure that all such persons are handed over to the AIIMS Police outpost for trespassing and exploiting patients.

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"All the doctors, nurses and staff members are hereby instructed that even on the slightest suspicion of the presence of any unauthorised or unidentified person in the campus or around the departments or areas of the campus be immediately reported to special WhatsApp number 935-502-3969. The security staff shall ensure that all such persons are handed over to the AIIMS Police outpost for trespassing and exploiting patients," the circular issued on October 7 by Dr M Srinivas reads.

Uniforms ID Cards must be for staff

The order further limits entry of people who are not recognised. The recent order calls to allow only persons wearing designated uniforms and displaying ID cards at the entry point as well as access through facial recognition and RFID tags on the lift to enter the OT floor.

'Wearing Designated uniform and displaying ID cards is a simple method to enhance the security at the workplace. This will ensure us to identify any unauthorized or unidentified individuals within the campus. Hence all the staff of AIIMS shall ensure that ID cards are worn within the campus. In addition the staff working in OT shall have their names embraided on the scrubs,"

To ensure patients from falling in trap of these agents and prevent them from getting exploited, the Director requested the Heads of the departments to ensure that all the waiting lists are attended. 'Administration shall provide necessary support to all the Heads of the department as and where necessary which will enable them to complete the waiting lists,' read the order.

Doctors to remain in OT during work hours

Doctors and staff at the hospital have been strictly prohibited to not leave the main Operation Theatre (OT) during their duty hours to get consultation or medicines from the Employee Health Scheme (EHS). In a week, the procedure for doctors and staff to submit individual EHS requests, as well as its mapping to the EHS site and medication distribution, will be simplified.

"Professor and head anaesthesiology shall allocate one senior resident doctor with immediate effect who is posted in Main OT for giving consultations and prescribing medicines to doctors and staff of Main OT. If onsite equipment repair has to be done, a faculty member of the concerned department will be informed," the order reads.

To increase the safety of the area, more security guards will be appointed with immediate effect and access to the OT floor by an unauthorised person has been prohibited.

The following decisions were taken in a meeting attended by Dr Peush Sahni, professor and head of GI surgery and chairperson of the OT users' committee, Dr Lokesh Kashyap, professor and head of anaesthesiology, Dr Jitender Sodhi, assistant professor, hospital administration and officer-in-charge, and nursing representatives from Main OT, The Indian Express reports.

MRI At AIIMS ONLY

Coming to the deficiency of MRI machines at AIIIMS leading to a long queue of patients waiting at the department to get the scans done, the director advised utilizing all the MRI machines 24x7 available in the store to avoid the patients from turning away from the hospital. Due to being unable to get the scans, the patients had to visit other hospitals which hampers the image of the hospital.

The order stated that appointments for the MRI scans will be increased and should be handled by only a faculty member. If any emergency arises, the concerned head of the department or the unit head should be contacted, TOI reports.

Following this, a six-member committee has been created by the Director which will handle the requirement of the MRI equipment and ensure the workers needed to run the facility. The committee will also explore the options for mobile MRI scanners and submit its report by October 13.

OT to run in Two Shifts

The Director has also asked the doctors to operate its main OT in two shifts from 8 am to 2 pm and from 2 pm to 8 am. To increase the number of surgeries, the director has asked the chairperson of the OT Users' committee, Dr Peush Sahni, and all HODs to ensure the smooth functioning of the OT in two shifts. However, the order is under process since other members did not rule in favour of the decision.

The request to increase the shift was made personally by the director after it was observed that AIIMS had nearly three to four years of pending surgeries getting delayed due to the huge amount of surgeries of the patients lined up.

Opposing the move to run the OT in two shifts, some members at the meeting said that the hospital lacks the manpower to conduct surgeries in two shifts resulting in an increase in workload on the resident doctors.

Medical Dialogues had previously reported that New Delhi Director, Dr M Srinivas, Dean, ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Hyderabad was appointed as Director, All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

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