Delhi adds 1,288 hospital beds; over 5 lakh emergency calls handled in 2025: Economic Survey

Delhi adds 1,288 hospital beds; over 5 lakh emergency calls handled in 2025: Economic Survey

New Delhi, Delhi's healthcare infrastructure saw a modest expansion in 2025-26 with the addition of 1,288 beds, even as the government plans a much larger capacity boost through new hospitals and remodelling of existing facilities, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26.

Delhi adds 1,288 hospital beds; over 5 lakh emergency calls handled in 2025: Economic Survey

The total number of beds in the city increased from 62,514 in 2024-25 to 63,802 in 2025-26. The increase has largely come from Government of India hospitals, other autonomous bodies and private nursing homes, while there was no addition in bed capacity under hospitals run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Within Delhi government hospitals, beds rose from 14,380 to 15,659, an increase of 1,279 beds or about 8.89 per cent, even as the number of hospitals remained unchanged at 40, indicating that expansion is taking place within existing facilities.

However, access remains limited, with the bed population ratio rising only marginally from 2.82 to 2.84 beds per 1,000 people, still well below the World Health Organisation norm of five beds per 1,000 population.

Private hospitals, nursing homes and voluntary organisations account for 53.49 per cent of total beds, followed by Delhi government hospitals at 24.54 per cent, Government of India hospitals at 15.94 per cent and local bodies at 6.03 per cent, underscoring the dominance of the private sector, the report read.

Highlighting future expansion, the report said remodelling of 13 existing hospitals is expected to add more than 5,400 beds, while 11 new hospital projects across the city are planned with an estimated capacity of over 10,000 beds.

Alongside infrastructure, emergency response services showed improved efficiency. The Centralised Accident & Trauma Service received over 5.04 lakh calls in 2025 , down by 10.7 per cent from over 5.64 lakh calls in 2024. The number of patients shifted stood at over 4.25 lakh, slightly lower by 0.9 per cent compared to over 4.29 lakh in 2024.

Despite this, the patient shifting rate improved to 84.3 per cent in 2025 from 75.9 per cent in 2024, an increase of 8.4 percentage points.

The total number of medical institutions rose from around 3,711 in FY 2024-25 to 3,878 in FY 2025-26, an increase of 167 institutions or 4.5 per cent. Over the longer period since 2019-20, institutions have increased by 12.96 per cent.

This growth has mainly come from smaller facilities such as dispensaries, polyclinics, special clinics and medical colleges, while the number of hospitals remained unchanged.

A total of 926 nursing officers, 141 paramedical staff and 127 non-teaching specialists have been recruited, while 4,478 posts have been created across medical, nursing and paramedical categories.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana , over 7.45 lakh Ayushman cards have been created, including over 2.79 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana .

As of March 20, 2026, 208 hospitals, 155 private and 53 government, have been empanelled under the scheme. A total of 29,120 patients have been treated, while 22,817 claim payments have been initiated.

The Health Department has also operationalised the MedLEaPR portal, integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems , with 519 hospitals onboarded so far.

In the tuberculosis programme, the public sector notified over 75,000 TB patients, achieving 103 per cent of its target, while the private sector notified over 30,000 patients, reaching 94 per cent of its target.

Among these, 90.5 per cent of public sector patients and 82 per cent of private sector patients had known HIV status. UDST was conducted for 51 per cent of patients in the public sector and 28 per cent in the private sector.

The treatment success rate stood at 82 per cent in the public sector and 69 per cent in the private sector. Under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, 66 per cent of eligible beneficiaries received financial support, while 86 per cent of diagnosed MDR-TB patients were started on treatment.

Meanwhile, vector-borne diseases recorded a sharp decline in 2025. Chikungunya cases stood at 168, down by about 37 per cent from 267 in 2024, with no deaths reported in either year.

Dengue cases dropped to 1,399 from 6,391, a decline of about 78 per cent, while deaths fell from 11 to two, a reduction of around 82 per cent.

Malaria cases stood at 719 compared to 792, a decline of about 9.2 per cent, with no deaths reported in both years. Overall, vector-borne diseases saw total cases decline from 7,450 in 2024 to 2,286 in 2025, a reduction of around 69 per cent.

On the HIV/AIDS front, from April 1 to October 31, 2025, a total of 3,274 people were detected as HIV positive among more than eight lakh individuals screened, including 3,034 general clients and 240 pregnant women.

As of October 31, 2025, 43,035 persons living with HIV were under active care at 12 ART centres, including 2,934 newly registered during the financial year.

The Delhi government continues to provide financial assistance to eligible beneficiaries, with 7,670 people enrolled cumulatively, of whom 6,878 are currently receiving support.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.