Nurses on strike in Delhi, surgeries postponed

At Safdarjung hospital, 70 routine surgeries had to be rescheduled and 25 of the 30 operation theatres remained shut. “Even nursing students and contractual nurses, who had agreed to work, were stopped from working. We had to postpone all elective surgeries… In the ICU, emergency rooms, gynecological surgery and burns-related cases, interns and junior doctors held the fort,” said medical superintendent Dr A K Rai.

Only emergency surgeries were carried out at Delhi government’s Lok Nayak hospital. “All elective surgeries were canceled since the strike was notified… We tried to convince contractual nurses to work, but they refused to do so. PG interns and resident doctors provided support services to doctors,” said an official.

At Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, nearly 50 routine surgeries had to be rescheduled. “We convinced some nursing students to assist us, but even they were not allowed to work by the striking nurses. So we had to get around 600 post-graduate, junior residents and senior residents to manage the OPD and emergency services, “ said Dr A K Gadpayle, medical superintendent of RML Hospital.

According to doctors at AIIMS — where nurses did not participate in the strike — a lot of patients were referred there from other hospitals. “Since nurses are not working in other hospitals, a lot more patients were referred to us,” said a hospital official.

Meanwhile, members of the All India Nurses Federation have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from March 15 if their demands are not met. “We are protesting against the retrograde recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. We are demanding that the entry-pay grade for staff nurses should be enhanced to Rs 5,400 from Rs 4,600. The nursing allowance should be enhanced by Rs 7,800,” said federation’s secretary-general G K Khurana.