15,000 Patients A Day, Long Waits For Some: Delhi AIIMS' Capacity Under Strain

AIIMS Delhi sees an average Outpatient Department (OPD) footfall of 14,000-15,000 patients a day, putting an enormous demand on one of the country's key public hospitals.

"The footfall is 14,000-15,000 on average. The patient footfall is more on Mondays and Thursdays. It's not the same everyday but this is the average," a senior doctor said.

The scale of this footfall is also reflected in the long waits that patients, particularly those who cannot afford private healthcare, often have to navigate. For them, subsidised treatment at AIIMS can make the difference between getting specialised care and going without it.

The capacity crunch at Delhi AIIMS, one of the premier hospitals of the country, comes into focus after the death of 15-year-old Tanvi from Rajasthan on Tuesday. Her parents alleged that the date of her surgery for a congenital heart defect kept changing and that the procedure was never performed. Tanvi had been making rounds of AIIMS for 13 years and was being evaluated for a possible heart-lung transplant before she died. AIIMS has maintained that the first surgery was not performed because doctors had concluded that surgery was not medically feasible in her case and needed medical management instead.

The data has put a spotlight on the challenges of accessing care at an institution that handles such a massive daily patient load and on how those waiting for specialised treatment, especially poorer patients, experience that wait.

According to AIIMS-New Delhi's 2024-25 annual report, the institution attended about 50 lakh outpatients and 3.5 lakh inpatients during the year and performed over 3 lakh surgical procedures. The report said this was achieved with bed occupancy of about 83 per cent, an average hospital stay of 9.6 days and a net death rate of 1.1 per cent.

The report records 48,43,572 outpatient visits, 3,61,236 admissions and 2,57,451 surgeries and procedures across the AIIMS-New Delhi network and its centres in 2024-25.

The main hospital alone recorded 22,68,551 visits to its general OPD, specialty clinics and emergency department during the year, an average of more than 6,200 patient visits a day. It also recorded 1,42,383 surgical procedures, or roughly 390 a day, during the same period.

But the pressure is not limited to the main hospital. The annual report records 1,78,758 major and minor surgical procedures across the main hospital, the cardiothoracic and neurosciences centre, and the centre for dental education and research in 2024-25.

Asked specifically about the surgical load, a senior doctor said, "This is difficult to define. We cannot put a figure on this because one major procedure might require multiple specialists. For instance, patient X may require a pediatric surgeon, a cardiothoracic surgeon and more specialised doctors for one procedure. Surgeons enter the OT (operation theatre) in the morning and come out only towards the evening. Then there are also rounds."

The doctor said waiting times can vary depending on the nature of the treatment and the clinical requirements. "AIIMS is a premier medical institution and we have the best doctors. Patients do sometimes have to wait, mostly because of reports, analysis or because a procedure cannot be performed immediately due to a complex variety of reasons. All patients are looked after with care and dignity," the doctor said.

The figures show the scale of healthcare delivery at AIIMS Delhi, while NDTV's ground report also cites challenges some patients face while seeking specialised treatment. Patients and their families maintained that the medical institution provides the best of care but said long waits for procedures and dates can add to their anxiety, particularly in cases involving cancer, tumours and other serious illnesses.

The annual report does mention that it launched a special initiative to reduce waiting times for common cancer surgeries at AIIMS. The report also mentions that the Department of Surgical Oncology, BRA-IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi, expanded its surgical services at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), introducing advanced and complex oncological procedures as well as comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy services.

Messages and calls to Dr Rima Dada, in-charge of the media cell were unanswered. The story will be updated once response is received.

Mounting Pressure

The 171st report of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, titled "Working of AIIMS, New Delhi and Problems Faced by Patients", presented on March 18, 2026, highlighted significant manpower gaps at AIIMS New Delhi.

Figures submitted to the Committee showed that AIIMS New Delhi had 452 vacant faculty posts, 176 vacancies among academic Junior Residents, 44 among non-academic Junior Residents, 97 among Senior Residents (DM/MCh) and 433 among non-academic Senior Residents. In all, that amounts to 750 vacant resident-doctor positions. The committee expressed "deep anguish" for the 35 percent vacancy rate including facility positions stressing that this constrains "constrain service delivery and strain existing staff".

The same report noted 1,000-plus surgeries daily in AIIMS. Alongside this, radiology performs more than 3,000 diagnostic imaging procedures every day, while laboratories handle more than two lakh tests daily

Further, it noted that AIIMS New Delhi has a total of 4,178 hospital beds and handles a very high patient load across inpatient and emergency care. It currently has 433 ICU beds, 112 major operation theatres (OTs) and 44 minor OTs. However, 26 major OTs and 81 ICU beds are non-functional.

The report also said that for complex specialties such as neurosurgery, the wait can extend to five years and that to address the backlog AIIMS is expanding bed capacity and post-operative facilities, running CT, MRI and laboratory services round-the-clock, and improving operation theatre planning and utilisation. The Committee also records that "the demand for services at AIIMS continues to exceed its capacity." It says the institute's expansion, online appointment system and token-based walk-ins have not eliminated the problem.