After intern doctors, nurses in Pune’s Sassoon Hospital to go on strike over transfers

Even as emergency services are not likely to be affected, other services would sure be affected by the strike, causing inconvenience to patients.

Services at Sassoon General Hospital are likely to suffer on Monday as 400 to 450 nurses at the hospital are planning to go on strike along with intern doctors. The nurses, who are to protest against their transfers to various other hospitals in the state, announced the decision on Sunday. The intern doctors at Sassoon General Hospital have been on strike since June 13, protesting against low stipend.

Intern doctors across the state have been protesting over low stipend from June 13, 2018. (HT REPRESENTATIONAL PHOTO)

“A total of 10 nurses have been transferred to far-off cities, like Kolhapur and Sangli. We are protesting against these transfers and want them to be withdrawn. Among the 14 medical colleges in the state, only nurses from Sassoon General Hospital have been transferred. The strike would start from Monday and we have planned not to resume work till our demands are accepted. The duration of the strike would depend on the discussions that we will have with the authorities concerned on Monday,” said Anuradha Athavale, president of the Maharashtra government nurses federation. Even as emergency services are not likely to be affected, other services would sure be affected by the strike, causing inconvenience to patients.

Dr Ajay S Chandanwale, dean of Sassoon General Hospital said, “As government employees, they cannot go on strike. We have asked the nurses not to start the strike. Rest will be looked into on June 18.”