The Union health ministry has turned down requests from Maharashtra, Kerala and Jharkhand to
set up AIIMS-like institutions in those states.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday that requests had been received from these states as well as Delhi, where the original All India Institute of Medical Sciences is situated. "At present, there is no proposal to set up more AIIMS-like institutions," Azad said.
Meanwhile, six new prototypes of AIIMS - in Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur and Rishikesh - are almost ready as part of the first phase of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surakasha Yojana (PMSSY) and are expected to become functional by August.
Two more AIIMS-like institutions, one each at Raiganj in West Bengal and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh have been sanctioned to be built in the second phase of PMSSY.
The six new AIIMS prototypes are expected to greatly increase the production of doctors in India besides helping in quality patient care in backward areas.
Each of the six medical colleges will have 100 MBBS seats. Each hospital will have 960 beds, including 500 beds for the medical college hospital, 300 beds for speciality/super speciality and 100 beds for ICU/accident trauma patients.
"In total, this is a Rs 10,000 crore project," a ministry official said. The ministry has put three of the best known existing medical institutes - AIIMS Delhi, JIPMER Puducherry and PHI Chandigarh, in charge of helping the six new institutes find its feet.
AIIMS Delhi has been mentoring the two new institutions at Patna and Bhubaneswar, PGI has been mentoring those coming up in Rishikesh and Jodhpur while JIPMER has been mentoring the AIIMS prototypes in Bhopal and Raipur.
An official added, "The existing institutes will help the new institutions select their faculty, establish their laboratory network, conduct entrance exams and plan their curriculum."
At AIIMS Delhi, nearly 10,000 patients a day attend OPDs alone and inadequate faculty strength has been increasing waiting time for patients.
It could take as long as two years to get a date for a simple MRI scan while a CAT scan has a waiting period of over four months. For patients requiring a total hip replacement or a total knee replacement, the waiting period is five months and six months, respectively. Those who need a surgery to remove a malignant tumor have to wait another six months while those carrying a benign tumor will get a date of surgery 24 months later. You will have to wait six months to undergo a gynecological procedure for cancers and double the time for benign conditions. A corneal transplant has a waiting period of half-a-year while for a retinal surgery, it could be at least four months.
Azad said in the Rajya Sabha recently that the medical colleges of these six institutions will be functional by 2012. According to ministry officials, the colleges will be functional from July 2012 while the hospitals will be in place by early 2013.
"For the first year of medical education, students don't require hospital visits. That's why the colleges will start from next year," an official said.
A proposal for the creation of 4,047 posts, both faculty and other staff, has been sent to the finance ministry. In February 2011, the ministry approved creation of 1,145 posts for each institution, to be filled up in the first phase of the recruitment process.
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