Burdened by patient load, MRIs at AIIMS have years-long wait

For the parents of five-year-old Akriti, coming to one of India’s premier hospitals – the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi – all the way from Samastipur in Bihar, was a desperate resort in their attempt to give their daughter a “normal” life. But what awaited them was not just world-class medical expertise — it was an appointment date for an MRI scan that left them bewildered.
The date of appointment: January 5, 2026 — more than two years from now.
Akriti’s father, Amresh, who runs a modest hardware shop with his wife, Roshni, recalls the moment with frustration. “We came to AIIMS because everyone said this was the best place for affordable treatment,” he said. “But no one told us that affordable also means waiting for years.”
The family has been seeking treatment at AIIMS for three years, after noticing developmental delays in their daughter, including speech difficulties. Following a doctor’s prescription for a brain MRI on Tuesday, Amresh queued up, only to be handed a date that felt impossibly far away.
“What are we supposed to do till then, keep waiting till her health condition only gets worse?”
A brain MRI at AIIMS costs ₹3,500 — a significant expense for families like Akriti’s, but still far cheaper than private facilities where the cost can climb to ₹15,000 or more.
“We are now thinking that if we borrow some money from our relatives we might be able to afford her treatment outside and get her better,” said Amresh.
While Akriti’s family explores alternatives, others, like four-year-old Inaya’s mother Rukhsar, feel trapped.
Inaya, diagnosed with a hearing impairment, needs a cochlear implant, but the MRI scan is scheduled for 2025. “The doctors said early intervention could improve my son’s hearing. But what can we do when the scan itself takes years? We have no choice but to endure the wait,” said Rukhsar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh.
Rukhsar’s husband is a daily wage labourer in UP.
For hundreds of people who arrive at the country’s most prominent government hospital, this is an everyday affair. AIIMS – which has seven MRI machines, all of which run 24×7 — is able to carry out 200-plus MRI scans in a day. Yet, with an overwhelming patient load of 15,000 outpatients per day, even these efforts fall short.
MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging, is critical for diagnosing a wide range of conditions, from neurological disorders to cancers. At AIIMS, each machine handles approximately 30 cases daily, including emergency patients and those admitted to the hospital. This leaves little room for the thousands of outpatients who require the service.
HT spoke to scores of other patients, who were waiting outside the department of nuclear magnetic resonance, who were equally disappointed due to the long waiting dates – ranging from six months to two years.
AIIMS officials acknowledge the challenges posed by the patient load.
According to Dr Rima Dada, head of AIIMS’ media cell, the hospital has seen a 25-30% increase in diagnostic services, including MRI, CT scans, and ultrasounds, since October 2022. This surge followed directives from AIIMS director Dr M Srinivas to improve diagnostic access.
“While efforts are being made to reduce waiting times, the sheer number of patients results in longer delays,” Dr Dada said.
Last year in July, HT reported that patients were forced to wait for almost one year to get an MRI at the hospital, (wait for MRI at AIIMS Delhi still up to one year despite 24×7 tests), unfortunately after a year, the condition only has turned worse at the hospital, with many patients complaining that they have been given longer waiting time.
In response to the crisis, AIIMS is expanding its MRI capabilities. Two additional scanners are being installed — one at the department of nuclear magnetic resonance and another at the national centre for ageing. Officials hope this will significantly reduce wait times, though it remains unclear when the new machines will become operational.
For now, families like Akriti’s and Inaya’s can only navigate the bleak intersection of poverty and bureaucracy. They continue to wait for MRIs, holding onto the slim hope that the procedure — and the treatment it enables — will not come too late.