Explained: The row over 'VIP treatment' for MPs at AIIMS

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the treatment of sitting members of the Parliament and doctors are not too happy about it.

Dr M Srinivas, Director of AIIMS Delhi wrote a letter to YM Kandpal, joint secretary at Lok Sabha Secretariat saying that services like emergency consultation, inpatient hospitalisation and Outpatient Department (OPD) will be streamlined for the Members of Parliament.

The order read, “The duty officer will be the Nodal Officer to coordinate and facilitate requisite medical care arrangements for Hon’ble Sitting MPs.”

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) and The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) slammed the SOPs, saying that it will promote VIP culture.

Amid protests by the doctors’ association, the Director of AIIMS has now withdrawn its letter on SOPs for the treatment of parliamentarians.

In a bid to counter the charges of promoting “VIP culture”, the hospital also tweeted, “AIIMS New Delhi has always had a 24×7 control room for co-ordination of medical care of patients from all walks of life.”

AIIMS New Delhi has always had a 24×7 #ControlRoom for co-ordination of medical care of patients from all walks of life
Residents&Faculty from Dept of Hospital Administration work here to ease logistics and expedite trt for poorest of the poor#MedicalSocialWork#HealthForAll

— AIIMS, New Delhi (@aiims_newdelhi) October 19, 2022

Let’s take a closer look.

What did the SOPs say?

The country’s premier medical college and hospital issued the SOPs on 17 October.

According to the SOPs issued by AIIMS, if an MP requires an OPD consultation from a specialty or super specialty department of the hospital, the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha secretariat or any personal staff of the MP can reach out to the duty officer of the hospital and provide him/her with the requisite details about the ailment and services required by the MP.

The SOPs also require duty officers who are qualified medical professionals from various departments of the hospital administration to be available in the control room all the time. The officer on duty will be the nodal person to coordinate and facilitate the required medical care arrangements for the MP.

Special landline telephone numbers of the control rooms will be constantly available for MPs, irrespective of the person on duty.

The order also said, “In case of an emergency situation where an Hon’ble MP requires immediate medical management, the Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha Secretariat or personal staff of Hon’ble MP will contact the Duty Officer and provide him requisite details about the ailment to that the Duty.”

The order further said that the officer on duty will make sure that the ailing MP is sent to the concerned emergency department by the Patient Care Manager and is immediately attended to by doctors. “The Duty Officer will organize requisite coordination and will personally speak to the treating doctors and/or Head(s) of Departments as per medical needs of Hon’ble MP,” the order added further.

Apart from catering to the medical needs of MPs, the SOPs also mention that anyone who is referred to AIIMS for consultation or treatment by the parliamentarians will also be provided due assistance by the Media and Protocol Division.

Why were doctors protesting?

According to a report by Indian Express, FAIMA penned a letter to Union Home Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in reference to the SOPs issued by AIIMS. In the letter, the association said that such practices will only promote VIP culture in the country.

“On one hand PM Modi says there is no VIP culture in India, but on the other hand AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas releases a letter to promote VIP Culture!  Like in the past we still stand against VIP Culture,” said FAIMA on Twitter.

On one side our Hon’ble @PMOIndia shri @narendramodi Ji says “There is no #VIP Culture in #India !

But on the other hand @aiims_newdelhi Director #Dr_M_Srinivas releases an letter to promote #VIP Culture!

Like past we still stand against #VIP Culture! #SayNoToVIPculture pic.twitter.com/viCy77q26B

— FAIMA Doctors Association (@FAIMA_INDIA_) October 19, 2022

The president of FAIMA said, “It’s a shame that an institution such as AIIMS Delhi is releasing such letters which are going to promote VIP culture. We have always been against VIP culture in hospitals, and we stand by that. It is disheartening that an institution like AIIMS is setting such a bad precedent for the country. Every patient in this country deserves good treatment, that includes an MP, and every patient is the same for doctors.”

The letter added, “We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to inequality in the healthcare setup because medical care and treatment protocol is patient specific and not person specific and importance and utmost attention should be given to a person who requires it the most and not because of his /her social status.”

Meanwhile, FORDA echoed the views of FAIMA and said that the SOPs will give rise to “VIP culture”.

We condemn VIP culture. No patient should suffer at the cost of another’s privileges. THAT being said, having a protocol to streamline things should not be viewed as derogatory, provided it doesn’t hamper patient care. #equityinhealth @soumya_pillai @hemantrajora_ @OfficeOf_MM

— FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) October 19, 2022

It said, “No patient should suffer at the cost of another’s privileges. That being said, having a protocol to streamline things should not be viewed as derogatory, provided it doesn’t hamper patient care.”

A repeat of the mistake made in 2017?

Five years ago, AIIMS Delhi issued a somewhat similar circular saying that it had decided to open an ‘additional’ counter to cater specifically to the needs of patients recommended by Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to President, AIIMS and VIP references from MPs.

According to a report by India Today, the new special counter was supposed to be operational for those patients who came from different states with the reference of an MP.

Similar to the most recent SOPs, this circular also came across as a promotion of VIP culture. Addressing this concern, hospital officials said, “The circular is in the public domain. We are not promoting VIP culture but we are trying to streamline the reference cases. In our circular we have clearly mentioned that we are not closing the general OPD for patients but streamlining the media-protocol division which had less man-power earlier.”

Soon after issuing the circular, however, the hospital dropped the plan of introducing such a counter after holding a meeting.

With inputs from agencies

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