THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A week ago the Labour Department released the revised minimum wage notification for nurses. While private hospital managements say its implementation might bring huge financial implications for them, nurses’ associations were of the opinion that the former’s claims won’t hold water and they could counter the same with facts.
According to nurses’ associations - Indian Nurses Association (INA) and United Nurses Association (UNA) - instead of running out of money due to the implementation of minimum wages, the hospital management might make a windfall in its name, hiking the rates of various services. “When talks regarding revision of minimum wages began doing the rounds last July, managements revised the rates of various procedures, room rents, canteen charge, surgical equipment and even injections. What happens now is that in the name of the release of notification, this same management will revise the rates a second time,” said Libin Thomas, state president, INA.
Echoing this, UNA state general secretary Sujanapal Achuthan, said the management claim that the revision in wages might affect the very existence of the hospital itself is erroneous.“The stark reality is that private hospital managements have already started to make profits. Last July itself, they hiked various procedures by 50 to 80 per cent. In the backdrop of the fixation of minimum wages, the management is likely to revise the rate chart once again,” said Sujanapal.
While saying that no hospitals in the state have so far had to down its shutters owing to financial difficulties, the nurses’ associations pointed out the trend is such that new hospital ventures were being started in the state and this highlights the fact that the healthcare industry is thriving. “Instead of bringing the so-called financial implications, the implementation of minimum wages might result in a slight dip in their profits. Some hospital management has even started to downsize staff. In many hospitals, the staff-patient ratio is not being maintained and the nurses are forced to work overtime,” said Libin.