Other States - Orissa   

Private hospitals cash in on situation

BERHAMPUR: It’s hay time for private hospitals and nursing homes in the city as the MKCG Medical College Hospital reels under the cease work agitation of the nurses since Thursday.

The MKCG Medical College Hospital is the only referral hospital in south Orissa.

The patients and their relatives have lost faith on getting proper treatment due to the strike of junior doctors which was followed by strike by nurses, said Pramod Sadangi, relative of a patient from Kandhamal district.

The medical services at this hospital were hit when junior doctors went on strike from March 19.

They called off their strike two days back. It was followed by strike of over 400 nurses posted in the medical college hospital.

The large hospital attached to the medical college has 890 beds. But on Saturday afternoon only 225 of them were occupied.

The ICUs of all major departments were empty. Even scheduled operations were being cancelled due to lack of nurses.

Tilottama Patra, secretary of the Berhampur unit of the Orissa Nursing Employees’ Association (ONEA) said the students of diploma, degree and post-graduate courses have also expressed their solidarity to the agitation of nurses association which would affect the health services in the hospital further.

The authorities of the hospital were planning to deploy the nursing students in the hospital.

“Patients and their relatives know doctors can never be available for round the clock monitoring of a patient. In the absence of nurses the patients are left in a lurch,” the nurses said.

The ONEA has started state wide agitation demanding the State Government demanding hike in their pay scale, regularisation of nurses posted on contract and scope for promotion.

It may be noted that in Orissa most nurses in government medical service are on contract with monthly pay of below Rs 5000.

In the MKCG medical college the number of regular nurses is 107, while the number of nurses on contract is 290.

CUTTACK: Health services are completely paralysed in all the government hospitals of Cuttack city due to the strike by the nurses that entered third day on Saturday.

The wards of SCB medical college and hospital, Acharya Harihar Cancer Research Institute, City Hospital and Sishu Bhawan wore a deserted look on the day, as patients are not turning up here anymore.

Hospital authorities do admit that health services are affected due to the absence of nurses. Even the nursing students and pharmacists who were earlier requested to provide necessary services in the hospital have refused to yield to the government request. Most of the emergency operations in several departments have now stopped forcing the poor patients to go to private hospitals.

“Work in gynaecology, medicine, surgery, neuro-surgery and orthopaedic departments have suffered during these three days due to the absence of nurses”, said the SCB hospital superintendent Trilochan Sahu. The patients are suffering, as they are not getting the medicines and injections on time, he said.

Meanwhile, the striking nurses have declared that they would not budge an inch from their position until their demands are not fulfilled. Demanding regularization of services of contractual nurses, hike in their house rents and several other demands, the nurses have boycotted duties since Thursday.

The hospital authorities have now requested the technicians, pharmacists, house surgeons, and junior doctors to help the patients in the best possible way.

The leaves of the hospital staff have been cancelled, sources said.

KORAPUT: Health services have been seriously hit in the district headquarters hospital here on Saturday with all the 31 staff nurses going on an indefinite strike.

The nurses staged a peaceful demonstration inside the hospital demanding regularization of the services of all the ad hoc and contract nurses, hike in salaries and provision for night allowance and dress allowance, Krishna Kumari, regional secretary of Orissa Nursing Employees’ Association said.

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