As 23,000 nurses began day two of their strike on Tuesday, the Maharashtra Government Nurses’ Federation (MGNF) had a meeting with the Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER), after which they decided to call off their protest today at 7 am
As 23,000 nurses began day two of their strike on Tuesday, the Maharashtra Government Nurses’ Federation (MGNF) had a meeting with the Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER), after which they decided to call off their protest today at 7 am.
According to the acting dean of the JJ Hospital, they could only manage six operations on Tuesday; their usual number is around 87. File pic
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The meeting was held between the nurses and Secretary of Medical Education, Manisha Mhaiskar, and the Director of DMER, Dr Pravin Shingare. The discussion lasted for a few hours, during which the list of 26 demands of nurses was put forth to the authorities.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Anuradha Athavale, the president of the MGNF said, “We felt that the meeting had a favourable outcome, as we were assured that our demands would be looked into.” Confirming the positive outcome of the meeting, Mhaiskar assured that the DMER would conduct regular discussions with the nurses, so that their issues can be addressed.
“We have also asked the deans to have regular meetings with the matron of their hospital, so that administrative issues can be resolved internally. For their demand of a separate directorate, we will review
the same in the near future, and for now they can continue to work under DMER.”
She added that the issue of 2,000 vacant posts would be taken care of as soon as possible, along with promotion of nurses. On Tuesday, the absence of nurses was felt by state-run hospitals across Maharashtra. While nursing students were attending to patients, several routine surgeries were delayed again.
The acting dean of JJ Hospital, Dr Ashok Rathod, said, “Though our outpatient department (OPD) was not affected much, we could only manage about six operations on Tuesday, when we usually perform around 87 minor and major surgeries.
Other than that, one caesarean delivery and 12 natural deliveries were also conducted.” GT Hospital at Fort had a similar state of affairs, where according to Dr D R Kulkarni, medical superintendent, only nine major and minor surgeries were conducted yesterday.
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