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Statewide strike: Health services hit at Sassoon, Aundh District Hospital
Protest was called by the Maharashtra State Nurses Association and Maharashtra Government Workers Cooperative Organisation demanding the implementation of the old pension scheme
Services at Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) and Aundh District Hospital (ADH) were severely affected as nurses, clerical staff, class III, and class IV staff began an indefinite strike on Thursday.
The state-wide protest was called by the Maharashtra State Nurses Association (MSNA) and Maharashtra Government Workers Cooperative Organisation (MGWCO) demanding the implementation of the old pension scheme. The employees also demanded to increase the age of retirement to 60 years, stop contractual appointments, offer full-time employment, and fill vacant posts on a priority basis.
Around 2,000 nurses, clerks, technicians, and class III and IV staff employed in SGH joined the strike, while at ADH and other public health hospitals in the district, approximately 78 nurses and clerical staff joined the indefinite strike.
SGH, which daily provides treatment to around 2,500 to 3,000 patients on an outpatient department (OPD) basis and performs over 500 surgeries, was the worst affected by the protests.
The hospital postponed all elective surgeries, and only emergency surgeries were performed. Procedures at key departments like cardiac, ophthalmology, ENT and orthopaedic department were either cancelled or postponed. Only the trauma department and gynaecology department operation theatre remained operational.
Dr Vinayak Kale, dean, BJ Medical College and SGH, said the strike affected routine surgeries at the hospital.
“Given the shortage of staff, no routine surgeries have taken place and elective surgeries have been postponed at our hospital. Only the emergency surgeries were performed, and we are managing the situation with interns and nurses from the Nursing college. To avoid inconvenience to patients some nurses have been called from Municipal corporation hospitals and private medical colleges,” he said.
To avoid inconvenience to patients and manage the shortage of staff due to the strike as many 204 trainees and interns were deployed at SGH. This includes 118 nursing students from SGH Nursing College, 14 nurses from Symbiosis Nursing College, and 63 trainees from Bharati Vidyapeeth amongst others.
Santosh Gaikwad, a patient said, there was a huge rush at the X-ray department, and many had to wait for more than 1 hour to get the X-ray reports.
“The doctors have suggested undergoing a minor procedure but due to the strike it will be performed on Friday morning,” he said.
According to Rekha Tithe, president of MSNA, Pune, around 24,000 nurses in Maharashtra and approximately 1,200 nurses in Pune have joined the indefinite strike.
“In Pune, a major chunk of nurses are from SGH. We want all our demands to be fulfilled, which will give us financial and social security. Despite the staff crunch and increasing patient load, we continue to provide relentless healthcare services,” she said.
Dr Nagnath Yempalay, the district civil surgeon, said that as the public is aware of the strike the footfall at the hospital was less.
“We have postponed the elective surgeries, and the emergency surgeries were performed. The services were slightly hampered at the ADH.”
