Coronavirus: AIIMS resumes OPD services, clarifies it will continue as usual
The hospital administration had on September 2 issued a circular stating that routine OPD admissions at the hospital are being temporarily suspended for two weeks.
FollowNew Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday said that the Outpatient Department (OPD) services will continue as usual, a day after suspending it for two weeks.
"Reference circular on, 'Temporary suspension of routine OPD admission dated 1st September 2020', this is to clarify that the OPD services at AIIMS, New Delhi will continue as usual," chairperson of Medical Cell and Protocol Division Dr Aarti Vij said.
The clarification came a day after the institute suspended regular admissions in general and private wards of the hospital and all centres through OPD for two weeks in a bid to optimise the usage of available inpatient beds for hospitalisation of seriously-ill COVID-19 patients.
Emergency patients who require inpatient hospitalisation in general wards or patients who are advised hospitalisation to private wards owing to emergency or semi emergency conditions will be admitted, the earlier circular had read.
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A circular issued by Dr DK Sharma, AIIMS Medical Superintendent had said, “Considering the need to optimise the usage of available inpatient beds for hospitalisation of seriously ill emergency/semi-emergency patients, it has been decided to temporarily stop routine OPD admissions to general wards as well as private wards in AIIMS Hospital and all centres with immediate effect for a period of two weeks which will be reviewed after that.”
The OPD services at the AIIMS had resumed on June 25 after it shuttered all its non-emergency departments on March 24.
The decision had been taken in view of increased admissions of non-COVID serious patients through emergency, particularly trauma emergency as the Trauma Centre has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility. There has been an almost two-fold increase in emergency admissions, Sharma had said.
