NIMS wants early takeover of OPD services by AIIMS

Hyderabad: The doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the Telangana health department have been waiting for instructions to exit from AIIMS, Bibinagar campus.

Usually, the AIIMS administration runs OPD services by its own staff, but Bibinagar AIIMS campus proved to be an exception.

While the first year MBBS classes are being conducted by the AIIMS teaching and non-teaching faculty, patients visiting the hospital for treatment are being treated by the NIMS doctors and its staff.

It may be mentioned here that the NIMS Bibinagar property (infrastructure and open land) was handed over to the Union Health Ministry by the TS government in February 2019 for establishing the premier national medical institute.

It was decided in May 2019 that Telangana would take care of OP services until December by which time the AIIMS staff would be ready for taking over the OPD services. But since the NIMS has not yet moved out, the OPD continues to be run by the NIMS staff.

It is said that the reason for the Health department not moving out was on account of unexpected mentorship change from the AIIMS, Bhopal to JIPMER, Pondicherry.

The bosses in New Delhi were understood to be unhappy with the way Bhopal institution was looking after the new Telangana institute and hence decided to bring in the reputed Pondicherry institute, which also acted as the mentor for AIIMS, Mangalagiri established in Andhra Pradesh.

The mentorship change meant further recruitment of doctors from seven to eight departments and this has been delayed by a few more weeks. Already, doctors from Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry and Community Medicine were recruited for running the MBBS first year classes that started in August.

With December deadline coming to an end, the Telangana Health department is clueless on how long it needs to continue its health staff in Bibinagar.

Although speculations are doing rounds that the AIIMS might target February month to take over the OPD responsibilities on its own, there is no official word from the Centre to the state in this regard.

It is learnt that Yadadri-Bhongir district administration has been asked to get in touch with JIPMER authorities to get a clarity on this issue.

Come February, it will be one year that the Telangana health staff ran the OPD services in Bibinagar after handing it over to the Centre.

The relocation of manpower and medical infrastructure and equipment from the NIMS, Bibinagar to NIMS, Panjagutta will be an added boost to the premier state medical institution to extend good medical services to the people.

Already, the daily footfall of out-patients in NIMS has increased tremendously with figures touching 2,200 on some days as against 1000 seen in the combined state.

There is also a big jump in number of in-patients getting admitted each day for treatments to various ailments.