COVID-19 impact: Now, 20 Mumbai doctors allege that their dues not paid

Since the past few weeks around 20 general practitioners GP who studied BAMS and MBBS and were asked to assist doctors at the dedicated COVID Care Centre at NSCI Dome have been running from pillar to post to get their payments clearedMost of the doctors served for 15 days and some for one month Their stints ended between the third week of May and the first week of June Most of the doctors were running private clinics in Byculla Worli Dadar and neighbouring areasThey are now ruing the absence of payments especially since the letter from the administration warned them that if they failed to report to work action would be initiated against them under the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Indian Penal Code The doctors had shuttered their clinics for the time they worked at the COVID centreAlso ReadCOVID19 impact Three Kerala doctors in Mumbai left in the lurchRecovered patients leave NSCI COVID Care Cente PicBipin KokateHad no option but to acceptOne of the 20 GPs told midday We had no option but to accept the directive to work at the COVID centre at NSCI Dome to avoid hassles including cancellation of licences Moreover the number of COVID patients was also very highThe doctor added Some of us were MBBS and a few were BAMS Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery The remuneration was around R80000 for MBBS and between R50000 and R60000 for BAMS doctors depending on work experience And most of them earned a similar amount at their clinicsNSCI has 518 ordinary beds and 10 ICU beds On July 22 nearly 300 COVID19 patients were under treatment at the centre and ICU beds were fully occupied The number of beds is likely to be increased in the coming days informed sources within the centreMost GPs who have resumed their routine clinical practice have visited the local ward office G South to enquire about their paymentI have 10 years of clinical experience and I had to close my clinic for a month during my work at NSCI We were allowed to stay at a hostel inside NSCI and my duty was to conduct basic health screening checking BP oxygen saturation level etc of COVID19 patients fill discharge papers and counsel those getting discharged another doctor said on condition of anonymityAnother doctor added I feel the authorities could have streamlined the process better to avoid any hardship to us The ward office told me initially that they did not even have our details After we spoke to higher authorities and the DMER we were asked to submit our bank details and a crossed cheque which we did a week ago Still the money has not comeExperience was goodAnother doctor said I could not even meet my children during my work at the COVID centre I was in home quarantine after I returned a month later My family had to take care of all the responsibilities And with my private practice shut my regular patients were also concerned However the experience at NSCI was very goodThe doctors continue to take precautions such as social distancing wearing a mask and checking peoples temperature and oxygen saturation before examining themThe other sideDr Rajeev Joshi dean of the NSCI COVID Care Centre said I am at NSCI since June 6 and some doctors were hired prior to me taking charge Remaining were directly hired by meWe had some doctors BAMSMBBS directly sent by the DMER Directorate of Medical Education and Research and they worked for a short duration of 15 days Others who were willing to continue for 25 days to a month were allowed to stay and were given certificates after working for 25 days and more Dr Joshi saidWith regard to the payments Dr Joshi said It might be a small number as the process of generating vendor codes and other payment formalities is still underway and all payments are done through bank transfers We will look into the grievances of the doctors and help them resolve this at the earliest if they approach me personallyDr T P Lahane Director DMER who is also the States nodal officer for COVID19 confirmed that a few doctors were sent by DMER to NSCI to work for 15 days and that their payments will be cleared in a few days The doctors who worked for more than 15 days were roped in by the BMCRs 80kApproximate payment offered to MBBS doctors10No of ICU beds at the NSCI COVID Care Centre518No of ordinary beds at NSCI centreCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news