Shatabdi nurses strike due to mistreatment of COVID-19 patients,staff

Picture/Samiullah Khan

The nurses of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal General Hospital, also known as Shatabdi hospital, in Kandivli West, stopped working briefly on Tuesday. Only after being convinced by the hospital's medical superintendent (MS) Pramod Nagarkar to resume work with the promise of improving work conditions within two days, the nurses resumed their duties.

According to sources, over three to four dozen nurses and other staff working in various wards stopped their work alleging that the hospital is neither properly treating Coronavirus patients nor is it caring about the staff. The MS promised to provide the staff with safety kits and fulfil their demands.

Speaking to mid-day, a senior nurse said, "There is improper arrangement to treat COVID-19 patients. Isolated and quarantined patients are being kept in the same ward. We are finding it difficult to care for them without proper safety kits. Such patients should be kept in separate wards."

The nurses have alleged that the hospital did not have the foresight to arrange for PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) units, has not arranged for the stay of nurses caring for infected patients, is short of housekeeping and cleaning staff because of which wards and bathrooms are dirty. "Earlier, there would be five to six cleaners in each ward. Now one or two cleaners are forced to clean all wards, including the COVID-19 isolation ward and the ICU without proper safety kits," said another nurse.

The hospital does not have required two entry points - one for infected patients and another for the rest. "The MS has asked for two days and assured us that he will make necessary changes," said the nurse.

"We have corrected the mistakes and are trying to fulfil the nurses' demands in the next couple of days. We have separated the isolation and quarantine wards and have also provided the staff with safety kits," claimed Nagarkar.

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