Private hospitals face staff crunch amid spike in cases

Private hospitals in the city are facing a staff crunch in Covid-19 wards as many are quitting their jobs fearing for their lives or due to better offers due to increased demand, officials of hospitals said

Private hospitals in the city are facing a staff crunch in Covid-19 wards as many are quitting their jobs fearing for their lives or due to better offers due to increased demand, officials of hospitals said.

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Hospital representatives said that with the sharp increase in the number of cases and subsequently, the number of beds, their staff are facing heavy pressure. Many workers also tested positive in the last 20 days and although their symptoms are mild to moderate, the managements are also offering existing staff higher salaries to prevent a crisis.

Dr Subhash Khanna, of Kalyani Hospital in Sector 14, said that they are facing a challenge to hire staff for the Covid-19 ward. “We have 30 Covid beds and the existing staff is working hard round-the-clock, but the agencies providing nursing staff has given up as the staff are demanding high salaries for the job. People are taking advantage of the situation and demanding a multifold hike in salary,” he said.

Hospitals managements said that besides increasing salaries, they are also offering incentives to retain the staff.

Anil Khatana, head of operations, W Pratiksha Hospital in Sector 56, said that they are running short of nursing staff for the last two months. “The nursing staff is the backbone of the hospitals and without sufficient staff, they cannot increase the number of beds. All the agencies and job portals are unable to provide any as the demand has increased and they are demanding exorbitant salaries, which is not feasible. On average, we used to interview two people a day, but nowadays, we are hardly getting one new member in a month,” he said.

Representatives of few other hospitals said that the staff is demanding at least a 40% hike in salaries to continue their work and are presenting offer letters from other hospitals, where they are being offered double their current pay.

JP Singh, a representative of Samvit hospital on Sohna Road, said that retaining the nursing staff at this time is one of the biggest challenges. “All the staff is working round the clock and risking their lives. They are in demand now and hospitals are forced to accept their demands as there is no other option left. Otherwise, patients admitted to Covid-19 wards will have to be either shifted or will be left unattended,” he said.

The hospitals’ recruitment teams are also working more than 12 hours a day to hire nursing staff. They said that even freshers are getting paid more than experienced workers due to the increased demand.

Appeals from the administration for volunteers has also largely gone unanswered and the number of beds and Covid care centres has increased across the city, but unable to get nursing staff as per the number of patients.

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, said, “The district administration has already provided staff to a few big private hospitals of the city in April when Covid-19 cases were gradually increasing. It included students from nursing colleges. In the government set-ups, we have sufficient staff, but for the new facility being set up at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, the department has asked for doctors, nurses and other people required to handle Covid-19 patients. The district administration has appealed medical students, nurses and retired doctors to come forward as volunteers.”