All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi opened a temporary night outpatient clinic for cough, fever and wheezing cases after interstate holiday travel filled emergency beds faster than discharge planners expected, hospital administrators said Monday. The clinic runs from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. through the week so daytime surgical schedules stay intact while still capturing patients who would otherwise crowd the emergency triage desk.
Why travel mattered
Gandhi Jayanti long-weekend journeys moved families from the Gangetic plain and Rajasthan into the capital for outpatient follow-ups they deferred during monsoon floods. Many arrived with unresolved upper-respiratory infections aggravated by bus and train air conditioning; emergency physicians said mild cases clogged beds needed for trauma and post-operative monitoring.
Indian Council of Medical Research seasonal influenza bulletins already flagged rising clinic visits in northern states; AIIMS staff screen night OPD visitors for influenza-like illness and refer severe cases to isolation wards with pulse-oximetry thresholds printed on ward walls.
Capacity measures
Hospital volunteers issue numbered tokens at the night clinic entrance; pharmacy stocks of paediatric antipyretics were replenished after weekend shortages. Administrators asked Delhi government dispensaries to accept referrals for stable adults so AIIMS can preserve specialist slots for complex pulmonary cases.
If occupancy stays elevated through Dussehra travel, the night clinic may extend hours—a decision the medical superintendent said will depend on ward census counts reviewed each morning.
Staffing and paediatric load
Resident doctors rotate through the night clinic in four-hour shifts so emergency teams stay fresh for trauma cases; senior pulmonologists review complicated chest X-rays remotely from home workstations when queues exceed forty patients. Paediatric nurses stock nebuliser kits after parents arrived with wheezing toddlers who slept on train berths without masks during the holiday rush.
Delhi’s air quality index moderated after monsoon rains but still triggers advisory days; AIIMS counsellors tell night OPD visitors to continue inhaler regimens even when symptoms ease, reducing bounce-back visits that previously flooded morning outpatient counters.
Coordination with city clinics
Municipal mohalla clinics agreed to accept AIIMS discharge summaries for stable patients needing only prescription refills, freeing tertiary beds for complex cases. Ambulance dispatchers received updated protocols to route non-critical fever calls to night OPD rather than emergency bays unless oxygen saturation falls below thresholds printed on triage cards.
Hospital infection-control teams placed hand-sanitizer stations every ten metres along the night clinic queue after family members crowded waiting areas during the holiday weekend; security staff manage line order so elderly patients receive seating tokens first.
Telemedicine kiosks in the night OPD lobby let rural visitors video-call family doctors before accepting admission papers, reducing anxiety-driven emergency admissions that last year spiked during similar holiday travel weekends.
ICMR advisers recommended masking in crowded waiting areas but stopped short of mandating tests for every fever case, preserving laboratory capacity for severe pneumonia referrals.