Pressure mounts on maternity services at GMCH;

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The nurses’ strike at Government medical college and hospital (GMCH) continued for the second day on Wednesday, severely affecting patient care, especially maternity services. Due to the shortage of nursing staff, scheduled surgeries are being postponed, placing additional responsibility on doctors. Meanwhile, the situation has worsened further at the civil hospital, where Class IV employees have also joined the strike.

The Maharashtra Government Nurses Federation has called a strike from Tuesday, demanding the immediate issuance of a detailed notification for the implementation of the revised national pension scheme, along with other demands. As a result, healthcare services at GMCH have been hit. The State Nurses Association extended support to the strike and continued to provide services wearing black ribbons on the second day as well. However, the number of nurses on duty remained significantly lower compared to those on strike. Consequently, nurses from the Government Cancer Hospital were called to assist at GMCH.

On average, 50 to 70 deliveries take place at GMCH in 24 hours. Due to the shortage of nurses, the burden of maternity and other patient care has increased. Priority is being given to ensuring smooth caesarean deliveries over other surgeries.

Students from private colleges assist at GMCH

Due to the nurses’ strike, students from two private nursing colleges in the city have also been deployed to assist in patient care. Their help is being utilised across departments, from the accident ward to various other wards.

44 surgeries conducted during the day

Till 4 pm on Wednesday, a total of 44 surgeries were conducted at GMCH, including emergency, scheduled, and Caesarean procedures. Some planned surgeries will be carried out one or two days after the strike ends, said dean Dr Shivaji Sukre.

64 employees join strike at Civil Hospital

At the civil hospital, 65 Class IV employees joined the strike on Wednesday, affecting cleanliness and other services. However, as contractual staff are available, there has been no major disruption, said civil surgeon Dr Kamalakar Mudkhedkar. Demonstrations were held in front of the hospital entrance under the banner of the State Government Group D Employees Central Federation. President Radhakrishna Kharat, founder-advisor Ashok Deshmukh, vice-president Omkar Tamasre, treasurer Ritesh Jadhav, and others were present.

The State Nurses Association also continued its protest on Wednesday, providing services while wearing black ribbons and staging demonstrations at the hospital entrance.