Several Covid patients undergoing treatment at Sadar Hospital suffered in absence of sufficient nursing staff for the second consecutive day on Monday as most of the over 100 nurses deployed for Covid care at the hospital did not resume work despite assurances from the Government to meet their demands after a day-long strike on Sunday.
Ranchi Civil Surgeon Dr. Vinod Kumar on Monday said that hardly 13 to 14 nurses have resumed work after the strike on Sunday, and their strength was not enough to manage the over 260 Covid patients undergoing treatment in the hospital. He also gave an ultimatum to the nurses to either resume work within 24 hours or face departmental actions, which may even lead to suspension or termination from job.
“If they (nurses) do not join duty in 24 hours, then we will be forced to write to the department seeking strict action against such nurses,” said Dr. Kumar, adding that the absence of sufficient nurses made it particularly difficult for the hospital administration to run the 60-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for Covid patients.
There are 200 general beds and 60 ICU beds earmarked for Covid-19 patients in Sadar Hospital. The government had roped in more than 100 nurses from Community Health Centres (CHCs) to attend to Covid patients in the hospital as the facility did not have sufficient nurses on roll. However, the outsourced nurses from CHCs went on a strike on Sunday demanding payment of additional Rs.15,000 per month, promised to them and pending for three months among other financial benefits, doctors said.
Ranchi is facing its worst wave of Covid-19 since the beginning of April. The district has reported more than 5000 cases and over 50 casualties every day on an average in the past one week. Sadar Hospital, in the heart of the State capital, is one of the largest State-run Covid care facilities in the city, which has more than 15000 Covid patients at present.
Patients undergoing treatment for Covid-19 infection at the hospital had to suffer on Sunday as well, said doctors. A doctor on duty at the hospital on Sunday night said that medicines were not reaching the patients on time despite being available in the hospital due to the strike by nurses.
Many doctors in the hospital have also contracted Covid-19 infection and have gone into isolation, further increasing the pressure on the caregivers still working in the Covid wards of the hospital, sources said.