Patients suffer as nurses in Mother and Child Hospital, Ludhiana Civil Hospital go on strike

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 20

Patients at Mother and Child Hospital and Civil Hospital are facing a tough time due to the strike by staff nurses. Members of the Punjab Nurses Association have gone on strike for the acceptance of their long-pending demands, while employees working under the National Health Mission have already been on strike for the past one month.

Nursing students have been called by Mother and Child Hospital as a standby arrangement. It is the nursing students who are attending to the patients in the wards these days and normal deliveries are also done with the help of nursing students and nurses who are working on the user charges basis.

The cases where C-section is required are being referred to either Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, or Christian Medical College and Hospital and at present no surgical cases are being taken by Mother and Child Hospital.

The mother of a patient, Pooja, who came to Civil Hospital for delivery, said she had been seeing the doctor at Civil Hospital since beginning but when they came for delivery, she was referred to the CMCH. “My daughter was little upset as she wanted her doctor to be with her,” said she.

A doctor of Mother and Child Hospital said amidst the strike by the staff nurses they are unable to carry their work in a proper manner.

“Most affected are the cases where surgery is required for delivery. Presently no such cases are being taken by us and they are referred to either Patiala or CMCH as we do not want the patients to suffer,” he said.

Nearly 200 government nurses, who are members of the Punjab Nurses Assiciation, Ludhiana branch, are on strike to press upon the acceptance of their long-pending demands.

Staff nurses have boycotted all their duties.

“We will be on a complete strike till our demands are met. We have been struggling for our demands since long and no option was left but to strike our work,” said Staff Nurse Paramjit Kaur.

The main demands of the protesting staff are regularisation of their services, increase in salary and also changing the name of their post from Staff Nurse to Nursing Officer. In addition to this, they have been placed in Grade C in the Sixth Pay Commission and their demand is to include them in Grade B.