Hailed as heroes, but plaints of doctors, nurses ignored

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year, around 11,000 doctors and nurses in Maharashtra have contracted Covid-19 infection

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year, around 11,000 doctors and nurses in Maharashtra have contracted Covid-19 infection. Of them, 62 have succumbed to the deadly infection in the line of duty, as per data provided by the state health department.

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The tributes on various platforms notwithstanding, on ground, these pillars of the public health system feel “discouraged”, claiming the authorities largely ignore their well-being.

Numberspeak

As doctors and nurses work in close proximity to Covid-19 patients, they are the most vulnerable to contracting Sars-Cov-2—the virus that causes novel coronavirus. Till May 10, a total of 3,473 and 2,914 government and private doctors have been infected. Of the total 6,387 infected doctors, 62 succumbed —16 of whom were government doctors. Data shows, in the same period, as many as 4,497 nurses got infected—2,909 serving patients in government medical setups, while the remaining at private hospitals. A total of 12 deaths have been recorded – nine from government facilities, while three from private facilities.

“Most infections were recorded in the first wave when the hospitals didn’t have adequate number of personal protective equipment (PPE) and standard operating procedures (SOP) were not in place. In the second wave, we have seen fewer infections and lower fatality rate,” said Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer.

Doctors’ plaints

After 14 months of Covid-19 duty, healthcare workers are feeling mentally and physically exhausted. Resident doctors, however, allege that instead of appreciation, they often face discrimination and dejection from the authorities.

For instance, a 28-year-old resident doctor, who is pursuing his post-graduation at a government medical college in a rural district of Maharashtra, contracted the virus last year while serving Covid-19 patients. After his recovery, the doctor developed post-Covid complications that obstructed his movements. His doctor advised him to take complete bed rest. After recovery, he joined Covid duty at the hospital in January. To his surprise, in March, the doctor was served a notice informing him that his post-graduation term has been extended by two terms, which means 12 months, as he was on leave during recovery. “This is injustice and unethical. I contracted the infection on duty. I wasn’t even called to provide an explanation and submit documents,” said the doctor. HT is in possession of the complaint letter filed by the doctor, who is not named to protect his identity.

At Sion Hospital, 262 resident doctors have contracted Covid-19 so far. Although they are being provided with nutritious food, their hostel walls have moss and fungus, which can cause infection among recovered patients as they have low immunity. “Many recovered patients are now developing mucormycosis in which a person can lose eyesight, palate, tongue and can even die. In such a situation, it is risky for those with low immunity to live in such unhygienic conditions,” said a member of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) from the hospital. HT has photos and videos of the hotels.

Last year, students of BYL Nair, King Edward Memorial and Lokmanya Tilak General hospitals were receiving a daily stipend of ₹300 as an incentive for their Covid-19 duty. In January, when the number of Covid-19 cases dipped, the incentive was stopped.

“In the second wave, where one doctor has to handle over 30 patients at a time, we deserve the incentive. Other than civic-run medical colleges, it should also be given to doctors from government-run medical colleges,” said a member of the central MARD.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, students who had sought admission to post-graduation for specialised courses are facing academic loss, as they couldn’t study properly due to their Covid-19 duty. Despite this, the students alleged the medical colleges are charging ₹1 lakh as tuition fees.

“We have not learned anything on the specialities we opted for, which has created a sense of insecurity about our future. Deploying resident doctors for Covid duties is understandable, but what about their medical education? Instead of giving relief and uplifting the morale, they’ve been forced to pay academic fees for classes which were never conducted,” said Dr Deepak Munde, a post-graduation resident at KEM hospital, who was the former president of MARD. He didn’t have the money to pay the fees so, had to sign a bond declaring that he will pay the money later.

Doctors also often have to face assaults by the hands of patients’ relatives over unavailability of beds or oxygen. In the latest incident, last week, a first-year post-graduate student from the department of medicine, who was on Covid-19 duty at the Grant Medical College, Latur, was assaulted by a relative of a coronavirus patient over unavailability of an intensive care unit (ICU) bed. “The patient was serious with oxygen level below 85% and required an ICU bed, but we didn’t have one. It is not our fault that beds aren’t available in hospitals. The patients’ relatives thrashed us. For years, we have been asking the department to increase security. With the rise in cases, such incidents have also increased,” said a doctor from the hospital.

Later, an first investigation report (FIR) was filed against the family members, but they weren’t arrested on humanitarian grounds.

Nurses’ issues

Nurses also complain of lack of basic facilities. Most nurses are working under tremendous stress due to the manpower shortage. Jibin TC, president, United Nurses Association (UNA), Maharashtra, said that since 2019, the health department hasn’t filled up 59,000 posts of nurses. “In February 2019, the public health department advertised for 59,000 posts. But the examination was held only in February of this year. So far, the recruitment process hasn’t been completed,” he said.

At rural hospitals like Kuwar Tilak Singh Hospital, Gondia, staffers allege contractors, who are given the responsibility to hire nurses, recruit only inexperienced nurses over qualified ones to save money. “At present, seven nurses in the hospital have Covid-19 infection, which brings down the staff strength. In addition, we have to train these inexperienced nurses who fail to provide proper care to patients,” said a nurse from the hospital over the phone.

Dr TP Lahane, director of DMER refuted the claims, stating, “These are just allegations. Everything has been taken care of.”