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Health services in ‘severe crisis’

BHUBANESWAR: Health service in government hospitals across Orissa plunged into ‘severe crisis’ as over 4,000 nurses intensified their strike by abstaining from their duties while thousands of patients were left unattended on Friday.State Health Minister Sanatan Bisi was ‘locked’ from inside by agitating nurses in the city-based Capital Hospital for an hour before police personnel dispersed the agitators. Mr. Bisi said he had come to see a relative in the hospital.Coming out of the hospital, the Health Minister, however, refused to concede the demands of nurses saying the model code of conduct was in force in view of forthcoming by-election at Laxmipur in Rayagada district.Nurses, however, refused the argument put forward by Mr. Bisi. “If State Government could announce a package for doctors, why cannot it take a similar action in our case? Our demands are legitimate ones which should have been met a long before,” Prabhati Mohanty, ONEA General Secretary, said.

A section of Orissa Nursing Employees Association (ONEA) had broken the rank and went on the strike expressing dissatisfaction over talks with the State Government on Thursday. Rest of the government nurses joined them on Friday.

Ms. Mohanty said the association did not get satisfactory assurances from the State Government over regularisation of jobs of contract nurses, salary revision and elimination of anomalies in nursing service cadres.

Meanwhile, the situation has deteriorated at capital hospital and other government hospitals of the city. Patients, who required constant attention, were shifted to some private nursing homes as well as private medical college hospitals.

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