AIIMS relaxes limit on number of new, follow-up patients visiting OPD

New Delhi, July 13 () The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has increased the daily limit on the number of new and follow-up patients who can book appointments for physical consultation at the out-patient department, the hospital said on Monday.

Up to 30 new and 30 follow-up patients can now book appointments online.

On June 25, AIIMS here restarted its OPD services for follow-up patients and allowed 15 patients to seek consultation each day.

In addition, requisite appointments for a limited number of new patients were also being given for physical OPD consultation.

AIIMS, for the first time in its history, had shut down its OPD services from March 24 as part of its effort towards redirecting its resources to control the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since then, doctors at the institute have been providing tele-consultation to all follow-up patients in an effort to reduce the need for them to visit the facility during the lockdown.

"In continuation with the decision of the administration to resume OPD services from June 25, the Director, AIIMS has desired to roll out the second phase of resumption of OPD services, whereby patients (new and old ) can book direct physical appointments directly for each department," an official circular issued on Monday stated.

Patients can book appointments through the online registration system (ORS) or interactive voice response (IVR) system.

They will be allowed into the premises after a confirmatory message for appointment and after physical screening, the circular read. Also, patients will be screened for influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms before they are being allowed to enter the OPD.

Besides, the hospital on May 2 had made it mandatory for patients to wear masks while visiting the Emergency or other patient care areas in the hospital.

According to the earlier circular, no appointments will be given for evening specialty clinics.

All heads of clinical departments in AIIMS were requested to provide a daily list of patients along with their telephone numbers who have been given appointment for physical consultation.

The hospital has been providing treatment to infected individuals at its two dedicated facilities --Trauma Centre and NCI Jhajjar -- for around three months.

AIIMS had also issued a circular postponing all nonessential elective procedures and surgeries and directed that only emergency life-saving surgeries be conducted with effect from March 21. PLB SNE