Chandigarh: GMCH-32 requests Centre to sanction 656 new posts of nurses

Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, has requested the Union ministry of health and family welfare to sanction 656 new posts for nursing staff at the institute

Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, has requested the Union ministry of health and family welfare to sanction 656 new posts for nursing staff at the institute.

GMCH-32, which is a medical school and a tertiary care hospital, is dealing with acute shortage of nurses. (HT File)

GMCH-32, which is a medical school and a tertiary care hospital, is dealing with acute shortage of nurses. At present, the hospital has 774 sanctioned posts for staff nurses, including nursing superintendents, deputy nursing superintendents, assistant nursing superintendents, nursing sisters and nursing officers.

However, only 587 (75%) of the 774 sanctioned posts are filled by regular employees. Sixty-one nurses are on direct contract while 45 are outsourced, taking the total number of filled posts to 693.

“The posts of nursing staff are sanctioned as per the norms of central government. As per the norms, one staff nurse is required for a particular number of beds, but at present, the sanctioned posts in GMCH-32 are not adequate against the hospital’s bed capacity. The hospital is facing staff shortage, even though it caters to patients from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and other states. But, the duty rosters are being made in such a way that no emergency facility gets hampered,” said Sudhir Garg, medical superintendent, GMCH-32. He added that sanctioning of new posts in hospital is a long pending demand, which should be fulfilled by the Union government so that best facilities are available to patients.

“Applications have already been invited to fill the vacant posts on regular basis. The exam is due to be held soon,” Garg added.

In the recent letter written to the Centre, GMCH-32 said that the existing 774 sanctioned posts should be restructured, so that more employees become eligible for promotions.

“As per the workload at the hospital, we require sanctioning of more posts. For this, the UT administration is in contact with the Union health ministry and efforts are being made to get the approval,” said UT health secretary Yashpal Garg.

‘Working conditions not favourable for nurses’

Staff nurses of GMCH-32, who are employees on regular basis, said that their working conditions are not favourable due to staff shortage, high turnover of patients, and inequitable workforce distribution.

“It is being observed that regular or contractual nurses of GMCH-32 often resign due to unfavourable working conditions, resulting in staff shortage. To meet this shortfall, the leaves of nursing staff do not get approved, including medical and child care leaves. Even though GMCH-32 staff is appointed by the central government (due to UT rules), our pay scale is based on Punjab rules, which are less compared to pay scales of central government. Also, there is no provision of promotion in the nursing cadre, as only 40 out of the total sanctioned posts are eligible for promotion. The regular nurses work for long hours on a limited salary but never get promotions”, said Dabkesh Kumar, president of Nurses Welfare Association, GMCH-32.

---------At present, the Government Medical College and Hospital has 774 sanctioned posts for nurses, of which 693 are filled by regular and outsourced staff