Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For decades, Sundays have largely been a pause in routine hospital care, with hospitals typically reserving the day for emergency and critical services. Apollo Hospitals is now trying to change that.
The country’s largest corporate hospital group has announced that it will extend routine outpatient services to Sundays across its network, making specialist consultations, diagnostics, preventive health checks, follow-ups and scheduled procedures available seven days a week.
The move is being positioned as a response to a less obvious barrier to healthcare: time. For people juggling work, caregiving and family responsibilities, a weekday doctor’s appointment or health check can mean taking leave, rearranging schedules or simply postponing care.
That delay can matter in a country where chronic diseases are increasingly being detected in people who may not feel unwell, the group said.
A GROWING SILENT BURDEN
Apollo’s Health of the Nation 2026 report, based on health screenings of more than 2.5 million people across its ecosystem, found that 26% were hypertensive and 23% diabetic despite being asymptomatic. The findings point to a growing burden of lifestyle-related conditions including diabetes, hypertension, obesity and metabolic disorders, often during people’s most productive years.
The concern is that a healthcare system built largely around patients seeking care after symptoms appear may miss this growing pool of people living with undiagnosed disease.
“Healthcare is not only about treating illness, but about protecting health and preventing disease,” said Dr Prathap C. Reddy, founder and chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group. He described the Sunday expansion as an extension of Apollo’s commitment to making routine and preventive care available throughout the week.
The group said one additional day could give patients another opportunity to act before a health concern becomes a medical crisis.
For patients, the change could mean completing a health check without taking weekday leave, bringing an elderly parent for a planned diagnostic test or getting a follow-up consultation without waiting until Monday.
Dr Preetha Reddy, executive vice chairperson of Apollo Hospitals, said the Sunday option could be particularly useful for working professionals, caregivers and families managing multiple responsibilities.
“People should be able to seek medical care at a time that fits more easily into their lives,” she said, adding that access to consultations, health checks and follow-up care on Sundays could make a meaningful difference.
The services will operate through Apollo’s existing clinical infrastructure, including doctors, diagnostics, operating theatres and coordinated care teams, with the exact Sunday schedules varying by hospital and service.
– Ends
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
