Nagpur: Government hospital patient care collapses as nurses and staff strike for old pension scheme

Patient care in government hospitals appeared to collapse completely as the strike by nurses, technicians, pharmacists, and Class IV staff entered its second day. Over 100 surgeries scheduled for today at GMCH and IGGMCH were postponed. The condition in the wards was terrible.

There were no nurses to replace even the saline. The entire burden fell on resident doctors, as the senior doctors visited wards only once. They had to work as nurses and technicians too, along with treating the patients.

Nearly 1,500 nurses from GMCH, IGGMCH, Daga Government Women's Hospital, Regional Mental Hospital, and Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital joined the strike to demand the old pension scheme. Patient care has been affected due to the lack of nurses. The situation is likely to worsen from today on.

The number of beds in GMCH is 1,621. Currently, 758 patients are admitted. They have only students from nursing colleges. Eighty-six students are looking after these patients in each shift. Patients are suffering as students are not able to administer saline or injections.

By 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 58 minor and only four emergency surgeries had been done. When this correspondent visited Ward 6 of the GMCH (paediatric), neither the resident doctors nor the nursing students were seen in the evening.

A lady attendant was keeping an eye on the patients. Here two or three children were placed on each warmer but no one paid attention to them. Similar was the condition of the majority of the wards.

IGGMCH had 427 admissions on Wednesday. There were 13 nurses on duty in the morning and only four in the afternoon shift. They were assisted by 30 students from the College of Nursing. Since they were newcomers, work was affected. Nineteen emergency surgeries and three minor surgeries were performed here on Wednesday.

Daga hospital was in trouble since the morning of Day 2 of the strike because the number of women who came for delivery increased. Medical superintendent Dr Seema Parvekar was paying attention; everyone was getting treatment sooner or later. Till 6 p.m., there were 10 Caesarian sections.

The Regional Mental Hospital currently has 450 in-patients, but due to the lack of nurses and attendants, the work of bathing, dressing, and feeding them was hampered. The patients here are the worst affected by the strike. The condition is quite bad.

There was not a single nurse in the morning session at the GMCH-affiliated superspecialty hospital. Because of this, no surgery was done. Angioplasty on patients was also postponed.