When Sunday Became a Healthcare DayFor generations, routine healthcare in India followed an unwritten schedule. Weekdays were for consultations, tests, and procedures. Weekends were for waiting.But health does not follow a calendar.For most working Indians, the barrier to routine healthcare was never access to good doctors. It was time. A concerning symptom can appear on a Friday evening. A health check may remain postponed for months because work schedules are full. Follow-up appointments are often delayed because taking leave is difficult. The result, repeated across millions of households, is the same: care gets pushed to "next month" until next month has its own excuse.Apollo Hospitals' "Always Open. Always Here." initiative was created to change that reality – to remove that specific excuse – by making Sunday a full working day for routine and planned care, not just emergencies.Healthcare Without Taking a Day OffOne of the biggest benefits of Sunday services is flexibility.Patients can now:Consult specialists on weekendsComplete diagnostic tests without disrupting work schedulesSchedule preventive health checks more convenientlyAttend follow-up appointments with family supportPlan elective procedures with greater easeFor working professionals, this can mean seeking care without losing productive workdays. For families, it means healthcare can be planned together rather than squeezed into busy weekdays.A Smarter Approach to Preventive HealthPreventive healthcare works best when it is easy to access.Unfortunately, many people delay routine assessments because of work commitments, travel time, school schedules, or competing responsibilities.Sunday availability gives individuals an additional opportunity to prioritize screenings, health checks, specialist consultations, and disease prevention before symptoms become serious problems.More Convenience, Less StressPatients often describe healthcare visits as a logistical challenge.Weekend access can help reduce many common inconveniences:Better alignment with family schedulesReduced need to take leaveEasier coordination for elderly parentsMore flexibility for caregiversGreater convenience for people travelling from nearby townsMost importantly, patients have more control over when and how they engage with healthcare.Turning Time into AccessAt its heart, "Always Open. Always Here." is not about adding another day to the calendar. It is about giving patients another opportunity to care for themselves.Apollo's emergency, critical care, and inpatient services have always been available around the clock. Now, routine and preventive care can also fit more naturally into people's lives.The Future of Patient-Centred HealthcareHealthcare access should not be defined by weekday schedules.It should be defined by patient needs.By opening the doors to routine healthcare on Sundays, Apollo Hospitals is helping individuals and families make health a planned priority rather than a postponed task.Because when healthcare becomes easier to access, better health becomes easier to achieve.And that is what being Always Open. Always Here. truly means.

A Vision Built Around the PatientFor more than four decades, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy has challenged accepted norms in healthcare. He asked why healthcare in India runs on assumptions nobody chose to test. He questioned why a ward meant to save lives was called "Casualty" instead of "Emergency." He argued against smoking on aircraft when the practice was still unremarkable. He helped make the green pharmacy sign a fixture of Indian streets. Each time, the pattern was the same: identify what the system takes for granted, ask whether it needs to stay that way, and change it at scale.  This week, that pattern extended to something as basic as the calendar itself."Healthcare Doesn't Move on a Six-Day-a-Week Time Frame"Launching "Always Open. Always Here." in Delhi, Dr. Reddy put the problem in blunt terms:"Healthcare doesn't move on a six-day-a-week time frame. We recognize the cost of a delay. We recognize the cost of not picking up a disease when it has already started in your system."It's a founder's-eye framing of a very ordinary problem – the working professional who keeps rescheduling a check-up, the parent who can't get a weekday off to accompany an elderly relative to a follow-up visit. Dr. Reddy has built Apollo's identity around treating that kind of quiet, unglamorous barrier as seriously as any clinical one.Why Now: A Silent Epidemic with No SymptomsThe urgency behind the launch isn't anecdotal. Apollo's Health of the Nation 2026 Report, drawn from health screenings of more than 2.5 million people, found that nearly 26% were hypertensive and 23% diabetic – despite showing no symptoms at the time of screening. For Dr. Reddy, that data describes exactly the population a six-day healthcare week fails: people who feel fine, have no obvious reason to prioritize a visit, and lose the appointment to a work calendar week after week until the disease is no longer silent.As he put it at the launch:"For more than four decades, Apollo has believed that healthcare is not only about treating illness, but about protecting health and preventing disease. 'Always Open. Always Here.' is a continuation of that promise. We have always been available for emergencies and critical care. We are now extending the same commitment to routine and preventive care across all seven days of the week. This is our seal of service to every Indian."A Tribute Built into the AnnouncementDr. Reddy was careful to frame the expansion as a demand on Apollo's own people, not just a gift to patients."This initiative is also a tribute to every doctor, nurse, technician and healthcare worker at Apollo, and to their families. Healthcare is a profession built on service above self. Their commitment allows us to take this step for patients and families across India."What Changes When Care Doesn't Wait for MondayThe mechanics are straightforward: outpatient consultations, diagnostics, preventive check-ups, follow-up visits, and scheduled procedures now run on Sundays across Apollo's network, alongside the emergency and critical-care services that have always operated round the clock. Nothing about the existing 24x7 emergency infrastructure changes – this is additive, not a reallocation.For Dr. Reddy, the measure of success isn't operational. It's the individual consultation that happens because a Sunday made it possible. In his own words, closing the launch:"If one timely consultation helps detect disease early or prevent a crisis, we would have changed a life. If we inspire millions to choose care before crisis, we would have changed the future."That's the bet behind Always Open. Always Here.

A Healthcare First That Captured National AttentionWhen Apollo Hospitals announced "Always Open. Always Here.", it did more than extend healthcare access to Sundays. It sparked a national conversation about one of the most overlooked barriers to good health: time.Across India, leading newspapers, healthcare publications, business media outlets, and digital platforms highlighted Apollo's decision to make routine healthcare services available seven days a week. The initiative was widely recognized as a bold and patient-centric step that challenges decades of conventional healthcare delivery.From national publications such as The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Economic Times, ET Healthworld, NDTV, and Reuters Connect to leading healthcare and business platforms including Healthcare Asia, Healthcare Executive, The Indian Practitioner, AIMA Media, and PR Newswire, media coverage reflected a common theme:Healthcare should be available when patients need it, not only when the calendar allows.A Shift That Resonated Across IndiaMedia reports emphasized how the initiative addresses a challenge faced by millions of working professionals, caregivers, and families who often postpone consultations, health check-ups, diagnostic tests, and follow-up appointments because of weekday commitments.Many reports described the move as a significant evolution in healthcare accessibility, extending Sunday availability to:Outpatient consultationsDiagnosticsPreventive health check-upsFollow-up consultationsScheduled medical procedureswhile continuing Apollo's longstanding commitment to 24x7 emergency, critical care, and inpatient services.Why the Story Stood OutThe media response was driven not merely by the operational change, but by the underlying purpose.At a time when lifestyle disorders, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and metabolic diseases continue to rise across India, healthcare experts increasingly emphasize the importance of early detection and preventive care. Apollo's initiative was viewed as a practical solution that gives patients an additional opportunity to act on their health rather than postpone care.Several publications highlighted Apollo's position that delayed healthcare often becomes delayed diagnosis, resulting in avoidable health risks. By making Sundays available for routine care, Apollo seeks to remove one of the most common reasons patients postpone medical attention.Continuing Apollo's Legacy of Healthcare InnovationSince pioneering corporate healthcare in India in 1983, Apollo Hospitals has consistently challenged conventions to improve patient care.The national coverage around "Always Open. Always Here." reflects how the healthcare ecosystem views this latest initiative: another step in Apollo's ongoing mission to reimagine healthcare around the needs of patients and families.As media across the country reported the launch, one message emerged clearly:Access to care should never wait for Monday.

Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram, Bengaluru, has performed what it describes as India’s first procedure using the EXIME Temporary Prostatic Stent, a minimally invasive option for managing urinary retention associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).  The procedure was performed under local anesthesia by a team led by Dr. T. Manohar, Senior Consultant – Urology, Uro-oncology and Transplant Surgery, Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram. The patient, a 72-year-old man considered at high risk for surgery, was able to pass urine following placement of the stent and was discharged later the same day.BPH is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate that can obstruct urine flow and, in some patients, cause acute or chronic urinary retention. These patients may require a urinary catheter to drain the bladder while awaiting further treatment.The EXIME device is a temporary silicone-based prostatic stent placed within the urethra to help keep the obstructed passage open. Unlike an indwelling urinary catheter connected to an external drainage bag, the stent is designed to allow the patient to pass urine naturally. It may provide a temporary alternative for appropriately selected patients, including those awaiting definitive treatment or considered unsuitable for immediate surgery.Published clinical studies have evaluated EXIME in men with BPH-related urinary retention. Initial findings suggest that the device can restore spontaneous urination during short-term use. Careful patient selection is essential because temporary prostatic stents are not suitable for everyone. Possible complications include pain, temporary blood in the urine, urinary leakage, stent displacement or expulsion, and difficulty during removal. The device does not reduce the size of the prostate and should generally be regarded as a temporary means of maintaining urine flow rather than definitive treatment for BPH.The procedure at Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram, reflects the growing availability of minimally invasive urological options that can help individualise care for patients with urinary retention.