Told to wait 2 years for MRI at govt hospital, Delhi man goes to High Court

A year ago, Gulam Mahabub, 49, a resident of Delhi’s Sitaram Bazar, fell down while unloading goods from a mini-truck.

A year ago, Gulam Mahabub, 49, a resident of Delhi’s Sitaram Bazar, fell down while unloading goods from a mini-truck. The pain in his left knee continued for months, and it was only on seeing a doctor four months after the accidentthat he discovered he extent of the damage. However, even as specialists at Lok Nayak Hospital advised “immediate surgery”, his MRI was slotted for July 15, 2024 – over two years from now.

The Delhi High Court. (File)

Mahabub is now taking the hospital to court to get an earlier date for his tests.

“I fell over a year ago and did not pay much attention to it back then. But when the pain started growing, I saw the doctors at Lok Nayak Hospital and I was undergoing treatment for the last three months,” Mahabub said.

“I was advised to get a surgery done immediately for my condition but when I got the date for the MRI of my knee, it was slotted for 2024. How will I manage to earn for my family in this condition, if I have to wait for two years only to get a test?” he added.

Lawyer Ashok Agarwal, who has filed the petition on Mahabub’s behalf in the Delhi high court on December 12, said that his client was initially advised by the hospital to get the MRI from a private lab. However, the financial condition of the family does not allow them to afford the cost of the tests.

“The hospital provides free MRI test under the Delhi government scheme, but he was denied this facility because he does not possess a Delhi voter ID card. We sent a legal notice to the hospital on December 6, this year, and based on that, when they agreed to give him a date, they slotted him for July 15, 2024,” Agarwal said.

Lok Nayak Hospital declined to comment on the issue, but senior doctors from the hospital said that waiting time of two to three years is “normal” in the hospital due to the heavy rush.

“There is no discrimination in this case. Lok Nayak gets thousands of patients every day. The average waiting time for tests is two to three years and in some cases it is even five years. That is why in emergency cases, we advise patients to get their tests done privately if they have the means to afford it so that their treatment process does not get delayed,” said a senior doctor from Lok Nayak Hospital.

Message sent to the Delhi government spokesperson for a response on the matter went unanswered till the time of going to print.

Not just Lok Nayak, long waiting for tests and surgeries is common in many government hospitals in the national capital, doctors said. At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), non-critical patients have to sometimes wait for four-five years even for tests such X-rays and MRI, according to the hospital website.

In most cases, the patients get tests from private facilities.

A senior AIIMS administration official said that the waiting time for tests has reduced significantly over the last two years as the hospital has acquired additional machines and digitised the process of booking appointments for tests.

“Even till a few years back, the waiting time was more than five years. However, we need to understand that AIIMS, unlike a lot of other state government run hospital attends to patients all over the country. The patient load is much higher and that slows down the process a little. But we are planning more improvements in the future to facilitate faster tests,” the official said.

In Safdarjung Hospital, another premier medical institute of the Capital, the wait time extends to at least five years, according to doctors who did not wish to be identified.

Mahabub said that he does not want for preferential treatment, but is urging the courts is to speed up his treatment and surgery so that he can get back to work.

“I have three daughters and a son and all of them are studying. After my injury, we could not stay in Delhi. We cannot afford it. I shuttle between my village in Bihar and here. I have to keep coming here for my treatment,” Mahabub said. “The more this gets prolonged, the worse our family’s financial situation will get.”