Every Fourth Patient Visiting AIIMS Dissatisfied: Survey

In a shocking result, a government survey has found that every fourth patient visiting the AIIMS is dissatisfied with treatment and other facilities at the premier institute.

As much as 28 per cent of patients visiting the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are dissatisfied with treatment offered at its emergency and surgery departments, while 25 per cent of respondents were not happy with the services at the ENT department.

At least 23 per cent of the patients were found to be unhappy with the overall treatment and other facilities offered by the country's premier institution. A majority of these patients have expressed displeasure with the patient services at the emergency, surgery, orthopaedic, obstetrics and gynaecology departments.

The feedback from the patients was taken under the "Mera Aspataal" initiative, which was launched by the Union Health Ministry in 2016 to seek the people's views in improving public healthcare facilities.

The survey has revealed that the behaviour of the staff towards the patients is a major cause of dissatisfaction among over a third of respondents.

The feedback note from the government survey stated that the major cause for patient dissatisfaction stems from the behaviour of staff (35 per cent), followed by other reasons (34 per cent).

Quality and cost of treatment at the AIIMS are other causes of dissatisfaction among the patients, with 13 per cent and 12 per cent patients dissatisfied with them respectively. Also, 6 per cent of the patients were dissatisfied with the state of cleanliness in hospital premises.

The cardiology department was rated the best among the hospital's departments, with 84 per cent patients expressing satisfaction with its functioning. Cardiology is also one of the busiest departments of the hospital.

As many as 80 per cent patients were satisfied with the eye care, paediatrics and psychiatry departments.