AIIMS Delhi OPD Timings: Registration, Consultation and Department Schedules

AIIMS Delhi does not have one timing that safely answers every patient question. Appointment-booking hours, OPD registration time, consultation time, department schedules, afternoon specialty clinics and investigation collection times are different things. A patient needs the timing for the specific task and department—not simply “AIIMS opening time.”

This guide separates those timings and shows when a department-specific instruction overrides the general schedule.

Quick timing summary

The general OPD figures above come from the AIIMS New Delhi citizen charter. They should not be copied onto every department page as if no exception exists.

The four timings patients commonly confuse

Appointment-booking time

This is the period during which a telephone appointment service accepts calls, or the date/slot offered through ORS. It does not tell you when the patient must register at the hospital or when the consultation will occur.

The online ORS service can be opened outside the AIIMS telephone-booking hours, but appointment availability depends on the hospital and department options shown by the official service.

OPD registration time

This is the hospital-side window for completing the applicable registration or verification step for that OPD. An online appointment does not mean every department-side registration requirement disappears.

AIIMS publishes 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. as the general OPD registration window in its citizen charter. However, Surgery publishes 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for its morning OPD, while Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation publishes 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Monday–Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays. These examples show why the relevant department source matters.

Consultation time

Consultation time is the broader period during which patients are seen. It is not necessarily an exact doctor appointment time and does not guarantee that every patient will be seen at the beginning of the window.

The citizen charter lists general OPD consultation from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Patient order, department workflow, clinical priority and workload can affect the actual waiting time.

Department or clinic schedule

A schedule identifies the day and session on which a department, unit, consultant or specialty clinic is listed. A schedule entry does not by itself prove that the service accepts direct new-patient registration. Specialty and super-specialty services may require referral or an earlier consultation.

General OPD and specialty clinic difference

AIIMS New Delhi's citizen charter distinguishes general OPD from specialty clinics:

The same citizen charter says consultation in specialty and super-specialty clinics requires referral from AIIMS general OPD or a government institution. A patient should therefore not treat an afternoon-clinic time as permission to walk in without the required pathway.

Department examples: why the general timing is not enough

Surgical Disciplines

The official Surgery workflow, updated in June 2025, places its morning OPD on the ground floor of the Surgery Block at the Majid Moth Campus and publishes registration from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. It lists a different surgery unit for each weekday and describes separate afternoon specialty clinics, generally with registration from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

This differs from the citizen charter's general morning and specialty-clinic windows. A Surgery patient should therefore use the current Surgery instruction and appointment confirmation rather than applying a hospital-wide time mechanically.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

The official PMR outpatient page says prior appointment is mandatory for its OPD and warns that registration can close earlier when appointments are exhausted. It publishes registration from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Monday–Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays.

This is a useful example of two important rules: department timings can differ, and reaching the hospital before the end of a published window does not automatically create an appointment.

Centre for Dental Education and Research

The dental centre publishes service- and faculty-specific OPD days. That schedule helps a patient understand which dental service is listed on which day, but the source was last updated in 2022. It should be shown with a freshness notice and rechecked before travel rather than presented as guaranteed current attendance.

How to find the right timing for your visit

Use this order:

1. Read the hospital and department shown on the appointment slip or referral.
2. Identify the campus, centre or block named for that service.
3. Check whether the visit is general OPD, a specialty clinic or follow-up.
4. Read the current department schedule when one exists.
5. Separate registration time from consultation time.
6. Follow a more specific instruction on the appointment slip or from the department.
7. Recheck schedules close to the visit because clinics and faculty rosters can change.

If your appointment slip shows a time

Do not assume the displayed time means the doctor will begin the consultation at that exact minute. First determine what the slip labels it as: appointment, reporting, registration or slot time.

Keep the slip accessible and follow its instructions. If it conflicts with a general internet article, the official slip or current department instruction is the more specific source for that booking.

Saturday, Sunday and public holidays

Several AIIMS services operate on working Saturdays, but Saturday timings can be shorter or department-specific. Sunday and gazetted-holiday closures are also described by some department pages.

Do not assume that a department listed for Saturday operates on every calendar Saturday or that a public holiday follows the normal schedule. Check the appointment confirmation, the current AIIMS holiday information and the relevant department notice.

What time should a patient reach AIIMS?

There is no safe universal arrival recommendation for every department. Use the reporting or registration instruction on the appointment slip and allow time to reach the correct campus or block.

For a first visit, additional time may be needed to locate the building, complete registration or verification and organize documents. Arriving early does not override appointment or referral requirements, but arriving after the applicable registration window may create avoidable difficulty.

Timing problems and what they usually mean

“I have an online appointment, so do I still need registration?”

An online appointment and hospital registration are connected but not identical. Follow the registration or verification instruction shown on the slip and by the relevant OPD. Read the OPD registration guide for the complete distinction.

“The department page shows a different time from the general OPD page.”

Use the current department-specific instruction when it clearly applies to the booked service. Check the source update date and the appointment slip before travel.

“The registration counter closed before the published end time.”

Some department pages state that registration can close when the day's appointments are exhausted. A timing window should not be interpreted as guaranteed walk-in capacity.

“A doctor's OPD day is listed. Can I meet that doctor directly?”

A roster shows the published OPD day, not guaranteed attendance, direct access or live availability. The appointment route, unit allocation and referral rules still apply.

“Can I use the phone-booking hours as the OPD timing?”

No. Telephone appointment hours describe when the booking line operates. They do not describe hospital registration or consultation hours.

What to verify before leaving home

• AIIMS New Delhi is the correct institution;
• the appointment date has not been confused with the booking date;
• the department, unit or clinic is correct;
• the campus, block or centre has been identified;
• the applicable registration or reporting instruction has been read;
• the patient has the confirmation, UHID where applicable and required records; and
• a department notice or holiday has not changed the normal schedule.

Official-source policy for timings

AIIMS OPD Guide stores a timing only with its scope. A general timing is labeled general; a Surgery time is not applied to Medicine; a phone-booking time is not called a consultation time. Each schedule record carries its official source, source update date, verification date and review status.

The future Schedule Finder will let patients filter by department, day, session and centre. It will not claim live doctor attendance or guarantee a slot.

Sources and review

Reviewed 24 September 2026 using the AIIMS New Delhi Citizen Charter: Out Patient Services, Surgical Disciplines OPD Workflow, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Out Patient Service, Centre for Dental Education and Research Outpatient Schedule and AIIMS Call Centre Details. Department information with an older source date will display a freshness warning until reconfirmed.