Private hospitals gear up for emergency situation
KOCHI: The private hospitals, which cater to 70 per cent of the healthcare in the state, on Friday said their doctors and other non-nursing staff have agreed to work longer hours from Monday to cope up with the extra burden arising out of the indefinite strike by the nurses.
“We will not shut down any of our operations. We are duty-bound to provide our services, and a large section of doctors has agreed to work even 24 hours from Monday to deal with the emergency situation. We had not faced such a crisis in the past five years,” said Dr Harish Pillai, president of the Association of Healthcare Providers of India - Kerala.
“The government has agreed to a good revision in the wages. We hope better sense will prevail upon the nursing community and they will resume work on Monday, considering the healthcare scare the state is passing through,” Dr Pillai, CEO of Aster Medcity, told Express.
Dr P K Mohammed Rasheed, president of Kerala Private Hospitals Association (KPHA), said only emergency services could be undertaken at the hospitals from Monday due to the strike. “The wage revision will see a doubling of salary of the nurses. There is a section of nurses which is happy with the government offer. We expect 20-30 per cent of the nurses to report for work on Monday,” said Dr Rasheed of KPHA, which has about 740 hospitals under its umbrella.
A big fallout of the strike will be a slowdown in recruitment by the hospitals due to the higher cost burden, he said.The hospital associations said the Kerala High Court’s interim order on Friday restraining the nursing unions from going on strike would hopefully create calm for further discussions to arrive at an amicable and long-term solution.
“The proposed indefinite strike by the nursing unions in a large number of hospitals will cripple emergency services, operation theatres, Intensive Care Units and dialysis units of many hospitals.”
“We hope while negotiations in good faith will result in permanent peace in the health sector in our state, uninterrupted patient care can be rendered in all hospitals.
The hospital associations are highly appreciative of the proactive role by the state government and we remain sympathetic to the reasonable demands made by our nurses and will collectively join hands to arrive at a long-term and permanent resolution to the crisis,” said the private hospital associations, which employ 1,70,000 nurses in the state healthcare sector.
Hosp groups plead nurses to back off from stir
Kochi:In the wake of a healthcare scare staring at their face due to the indefinite nurses strike from Monday, leading private groups led by Aster DM Healthcare, Malabar Hospitals and Baby Memorial Hospital, have admitted the nurses are underpaid, and pleaded them not to resort to such a drastic step such as complete boycotting of the services. “It is unfortunate the nurses have resorted to such a drastic step like complete boycotting of services, especially when the healthcare sector is overburdened due to seasonal fever-associated illness.
All the government and private hospitals are overflowing with patients. Many of them are in critical condition and it is inhuman on the part of nurses, who are in a noble profession, to withdraw from the battleground during the fight against illness,” a joint statement issued here said.The statement was issued by Dr Azad Moopen, chairman & MD, Aster DM Healthcare; Dr K G Alexander, chairman, Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozhikode; Dr Abdulla Cherayakatt, MD, Star Care Hospitals, Kozhikode; Dr M K Lalitha MD, Malabar Hospitals; Hussain Koya Thangal, general secretary, KPHA; Dr Muhamed Musthafa P P, president, KPHA, Calicut Chapter, MD&CEO, MICC; Dr Muhamad Hanifa, chairman & MD Shifa Hospital, Kozhikode, and Dr Jaikish, director, PVS Hospital.