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The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) building (AFP via Getty Images)

Suman Patel and her teenage daughter had travelled over 700km to reach Delhi from their home in a remote district of Uttar Pradesh state, ready to collect the 16-year-old’s post-op test results from India’s top public hospital.

After their daughter was diagnosed with cancer in her right leg earlier this year, the Patels had opted to seek treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the hope of receiving the best possible care. Doctors there recommended amputating the limb to contain the cancer’s spread, and the surgery was completed on 26 November.

Despite the difficulty of moving their daughter after the operation, they had nowhere to stay in Delhi so took her home, only to return 10 days later for a follow-up appointment. Yet when they arrived back at AIIMS, they were told the journey had been a waste of time – the hospital’s entire patient records system was down, and they would have to make the 1,400km (870 miles) round trip again in another couple of weeks.