Tag: covid-19 medical workers

Delhi: 84 Nurses of City Hospital Say They Were Fired For Demanding Adherence to COVID Protocol

The Nursing Superintendent has denied the allegations and said that the hospital had been following the due process of renewing the yearly contracts of the temporary nursing staff.

New Delhi: A group of nurses at the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Centenary Hospital (HAHC) have accused their employer of wrongly “terminating” 84 of them “without any notice and without a valid reason.”

The nurses have speculated that the reason they were terminated was that they had been raising their voice against the poor management of the COVID-19 ward, and the medical staff attached to it, by the hospital.

The Nursing Superintendent (NS) of the hospital, however, said that they had only been following due process of renewing yearly contracts of temporary nursing staff, and that they had not terminated anyone.

A young nurse, who was a part of the agitation that occurred on July 13 and July 15 outside the hospital premises against the alleged termination, told The Wire that the nurses had been at loggerheads with the hospital management for over 15 days.

Accusations against the hospital 

On June 23, the nurses at HAHC penned a letter to the hospital management raising the issue of the poor condition of nurses and and accusing the hospital of various violations.

In the letter, the nursing staff at HAHC accused the hospital of denying them a COVID-19 test, and adequate quarantine facility after completing a COVID-19 duty.

“If I work in a COVID ward for seven days, I should get seven days’ quarantine facility, I can’t go back to my house where I may infect others,” a young nurse from HAHC said, on the condition of anonymity. “In my hostel, nurses who are working in the general ward live with nurses who are working in the COVID ward. How risky is that?” she said.

Also read: Delhi: More Than 2,000 Healthcare Workers Have Contracted COVID-19

In the letter, nurses at HAHC also accused the hospital of not giving them proper PPE and N95 masks. Another nurse who spoke to The Wire said that they were given 3M pollution masks instead of N95 masks and the PPE was of inferior quality and “did not properly cover [the] neck area”.

“We don’t have a proper donning and doffing area, where we can properly wear or discard our protective suits,” a nurse said.

As a result, 7-8 working staff members at the hospital have tested positive in the span of over four months since the hospital started a 219-bed COVID ward.

Surprisingly, the nurses also accused the hospital of not providing them with drinking water. According to a nurse, only 3-4 days ago, a water dispenser was installed after they protested.

“There was no water dispenser in the COVID ward since its inception. Packaged water bottles were brought for COVID-19 patients and we, nurses, were asked to buy the packaged water. On a different floor, one water dispenser is installed but how can we, who are attending COVID-19 patients, use a water dispenser that everyone else uses?” she asked.

“Finally, just 3-4 days ago, water was provided to us,” a nurse said.

Alleged termination of the nursing staff

The young nurse who spoke to The Wire said that since the nurses had accused the hospital of serious violations, the hospital management had used its power to not extend their yearly contract citing COVID-19 and have “terminated” 84 of them.

The hospital order informing staff nurses about the alleged termination was sent on July 11. The order said: “Extension in the contract of 84 staff nurses was due between Feb 2020 till July 10, 2020. These cases could not be processed due to the prevalence of COVID-19.”

Also read: Delhi: In Many Hospitals, Poor Working Conditions, Low Salaries Force Nurses to Resign

The order further states: “ The Competent Authority has approved the extension in the contractual appointment for all 84 nurses…till July 10, 2020 only. All these nurses therefore stand relieved from July 11, 2020”.

The young nurse said that none of the 84 nurses were given any notice before their alleged termination. Ideally, a one-month notice is required for terminating a contractual nurse.

“All nurses were on duty when they received a WhatsApp message about the termination. They were all terminated while on duty,” she said.

The IPNA and the UNA are two organisations who are helping staff nurses at HAHC raise their demands. The UNA has also written a letter to the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal to take cognisance of the alleged termination of nurses.

Nursing Superintendent’s defence

Speaking to The Wire, the Nursing Superintendent (NS) of the HAHC has defended the hospital. “They have not been terminated. They have been, with due process, relieved by the hospital because their contract had ended. We have called all of them for fresh interviews as per our protocol”, she said.

As per the rules of contractual employment, all the 84 nurses who have been relieved by the hospital have been asked to come for fresh walk-in interviews to renew their contract, the NS said.

“We will give them fresh offer letters like we do every year. Those nurses who are below average [in their work], they will be given feedback and their contracts will not be renewed. This also we do every year. There is nothing wrong in this,” she added.

On the other accusations, the NS said that after the Delhi government asked them to increase the number of COVID-19 beds in the hospital from 30 to over 200, there were many structural changes that were required to be done. According to her, some basic changes were made, a separate donning and doffing area was provided to the nurses. However, she admitted that some additions to the area still need to be made. “Painting of the walls, setting up of lighting etc. is gradually being done,” she said.

The NS also said that after the hospital became a COVID hospital, it had to bear enormous expenses and they did whatever they could to provide their nursing staff with appropriate PPE kits and masks.

When asked why 3M pollution masks were given to the staff instead of N95 masks, she said that the 3M masks were equally good too. “I am also wearing 3M masks, they are absolutely fine,” she said. “At the double-triple rate our management purchased masks for our staff.”

Also read: COVID-19: At Delhi Hospital Where Nurse Died, Others Say They Were Made to Reuse PPE

The NS also denied that the nurses were not given proper drinking water. “There is an RO at every floor,” she said.

According to the NS, while the hospital management did not put up nurses and medics at a hotel for quarantine, they reserved a 50 bed ICU for the nursing staff. In addition, 4 private rooms have also been made available. “Before this agitation, 67 nurses were quarantined in these facilities provided by us”, she said.

The NS has said that at least 40 of the 84 nurses who were relieved have now been issued fresh contracts. But both the young nurses who spoke to The Wire speculated that these fresh contracts had been issued because of pressure from the nurses’ union.

Member of parliament and CPI leader, Binoy Viswam also penned a letter to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on July 13, saying that if the hospital “is not able to justify their termination, they must be reinstated immediately.”

The Wire has also reached out to the doctors of the hospitals to ascertain the claims of the nurses as well as the hospital management. The story will be updated when a response is received.

Health Workers’ Families to Be Given Jobs if They Die on COVID-19 Duty: Tripura CM

Tripura has one COVID-19 patient.

Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Thursday said the state government will provide employment opportunities to families of doctors, nurses and other health workers if they die due to COVID-19 while on official duty.

Deb, who is also the health minister of the state, visited the state-run Gobinda Ballabh Pant (GBP) Hospital and Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital earlier in the day to review their preparedness for tackling coronavirus cases.

“We had earlier announced that if any doctor, nurse or health staff dies due to coronavirus, we shall provide Rs 4 lakh as compensation to their families. In addition to this, we would also provide jobs to the next of kins,” he told reporters here.

Asked about reports of nurses at GB Pant Hospital and Kailashahar District Hospital in Unakoti district alleging shortage of protective equipment, Deb said there was enough stock of PPEs in hospitals.

“The health secretary and other officials are authorised to speak to the media. We have sufficient PPE, gloves, sanitisers and masks in stock. The state government will take strict action against the nurses for creating panic,” he said.

Deb also said he had a word with the only COVID-19 patient in the state, who is under treatment at GB Pant Hospital. “She has said she was feeling better,” he added.

From Beating Pots and Pans to Beating Doctors, Coronavirus Fight Takes Bizarre Turn

In two separate incidents on Wednesday – one in Bhopal and the other in Delhi – doctors were accused of “spreading coronavirus” and violently attacked for carrying out their jobs.

New Delhi: Days after the country applauded the efforts of healthcare professionals and workers by ringing bells and banging pots and pans, in two separate incidents – one in Bhopal and the other in Delhi – doctors were accused of “spreading coronavirus” and violently attacked for carrying out their jobs.

In Delhi, a 42-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly accused two female resident doctors at Safdarjung Hospital of spreading coronavirus and assaulted them. The two doctors, posted in the Emergency department of the hospital, were not dealing with COVID-19 patients.

Incidentally, Delhi is one of the worst-affected states with 669 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and nine deaths so far.

According to the hospital Residents Doctor’s Association, the incident took place at Gulmohar Enclave where the two doctors had gone to buy fruits and vegetables at around 9:30 pm on Wednesday. The enclave is only a short distance away from Gautam Nagar, where the two resided.

In her complaint to the police, one of the doctors said that she had gone to the market with her sister when the accused accosted them.

First, the man accused the two doctors of spreading coronavirus. The RDA president, Manish, told a news agency that “a local resident, who was in the vicinity, asked them to stay away from the fruit stall, saying you doctors bring infection from the hospital and spread it here.”

Without any provocation, the middle-aged man also began talking about the need for social distancing and how it was because of such doctors that residential areas now faced a greater risk of the virus.

When the doctors replied by saying that such charges were misplaced and that they knew the importance of social distancing, the accused began abusing at them and allegedly twisted their hands, pushed them and fled.

The Hauz Khas police have registered a case on the complaint by one of the doctors. It said the accused was subsequently identified and arrested. The police have also medically examined both the victims after they charged that the accused had also touched one of them inappropriately. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur told the media, “we have registered a case and arrested the accused in connection with the incident”.

Also read: India Needs an Urgent Law to Protect All Health Workers From Violence

In Bhopal, two PG residents from the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Bhopal (AIIMS Bhopal) were assaulted by police officials in the evening on Wednesday, as they were on their way back home from the hospital.

“I was going back home after my emergency duty was over when I was stopped on my way home. I was with another doctor when they [police officials] stopped us right outside the hospital campus,” said Dr Rituparna Jana and added that despite showing their identification cards, the police asked the two why they were roaming around outside if they were doctors.

“The police then threw our belongings away and said that it was doctors like us who were spreading the coronavirus,” said Rituparna and added that the police then beat her and the doctor accompanying her with lathis. She said that she has since lodged complaints about the incident.

The Resident Doctor’s Association at AIIMS Bhopal has written to the director of AIIMS Bhopal condemning “the atrocity and brutality by the police against resident doctors of AIIMS Bhopal”.

The incident in Bhopal comes close on the heels of another occurrence when two women doctors were injured when a team of health officials in Indore was pelted with stones while they were trying to trace a person who had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient.

The incidents have occurred even though several senior politicians, including the Union home minister Amit Shah, health minister Harsh Vardhan and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had last month stressed on the importance of not harassing doctors and nurses who were at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus.

After several doctors and nurses complained about facing harassment at the hands of their landlords and neighbours, Amit Shah had urged the Delhi police commissioner to take strict action against people who were harassing those treating COVID-19 patients and asking doctors to vacate their residences. Harsh Vardhan had also raised the issue of how doctors and paramedics combating the virus spread were being “ostracised in residential complexes and societies”.

Referring to how doctors, nurses and even pilots and air hostesses were being harassed, Kejriwal had said: “This is not right. These people are risking their lives for us and we are behaving in this way. We should change this mindset.”

A global pattern emerges

As countries across the world grapple with the spread of the novel coronavirus, attacks against doctors and healthcare workers have cropped up. In Mexico, state authorities have arranged special buses for nurses and a hospital in the country’s second-largest city has asked medical personnel to don civilian clothes on their way to and from work after some public buses refused to allow healthcare workers to board them.

Last week, a nurse in Chicago said that she was punched in the face on a bus on her way home after her shift at a local hospital ended. The man who attacked her accused her of coughing on him to infect him with the coronavirus.

In Philippines, after reports of assaults against healthcare workers and professionals came to the fore, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered police officials to protect health workers.

Madhya Pradesh: Constable on Lockdown Duty Attacked; 5 Arrested

The incident that took place in Chandan Nagar area on Tuesday evening.

Indore: A group of persons pelted stones at a police constable in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district when he asked them to stay indoors to contain the spread of coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident that took place in Chandan Nagar area here on Tuesday evening, he said.

A purported video of the incident also went viral on social media, in which the policeman was seen running to save himself from seven to eight people who were throwing stones and chasing him. One of the miscreants was seen picking up a stick while chasing the policeman.

Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Jain told PTI that when the constable asked some people out on streets to go back home, they started arguing and threw stones at him.

The policeman then ran for his life and alerted his seniors following which additional force was rushed to the area, he said.

Also Read: Madhya Pradesh: Two Doctors Hurt in Stone Pelting During Coronavirus Tracking

Five people – identified as Javed (25), Imran Khan (24), Nasir Khan (58), Sali Khan (50) and Samir Anwar (22) – were later arrested and booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (assault of criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other relevant provisions.

“We are also recommending to the district administration to book Javed and Imran Khan under the National Security Act (NSA),” Jain said.

A search was on for another absconding accused.

This is the third incident in the state of the attack on those at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus.

Earlier, two policemen on lockdown enforcement duty were injured after a mob attacked them with knives and in Bhopal’s old city area on Monday night.

On April 1, two women doctors were injured after stones were pelted at them when they went to the Tatpatti Bakhal area of Indore for contact tracing of COVID-19 patients.

Indore, which is the worst affected with coronavirus in the state, is under curfew since March 25.

Bihar: Paramedic Working at COVID-19 Isolation Ward Assaulted by Neighbours

‘I was told by my neighbours that I had brought the infection from the hospital.’

Begusarai: A paramedic working at an isolation ward of a hospital here has alleged that she was physically assaulted by her neighbours who said they would be infected with coronavirus if she enters her house using a gate adjacent to theirs, police said.

The complainant, Neelu Kumari, is married to Amulya Singh, a resident of Meerganj locality in the Town police station area of the district, and she works at the Begusarai Sadar Hospital as an auxiliary nurse-midwife.

Town police station SHO Amarendra Kumar Jha said she has lodged an FIR against her neighbours including a former ward councillor and two women.

He said the complainant, who has been attached to the hospital’s isolation ward, has alleged that she was stopped from entering her home through the back gate which she was doing as a precautionary measure by her neighbours.

“I was told by my neighbours that I had brought the infection from the hospital and if I had to enter my house I must do so from the front gate and not the one that is adjacent to theirs.

“They also said that water spilled out on the streets when I took bath which increased their risk of getting infected with coronavirus,” the woman told reporters indignantly.

The SHO said the accused have denied the allegations and claimed that it was a “trivial dispute”.

An investigation has been initiated and further action will be taken as per the findings, he added.

Fake WhatsApp Videos Behind Attack on Health Workers in Indore: Report

A resident of Tatapatti Bakhal said residents were suspicious of health workers after fake videos started doing the rounds.

New Delhi: Fake videos that claimed that Muslims were being injected with coronavirus had been circulating through WhatsApp in Indore, where residents of a particular neighbourhood attacked a team of health workers on Wednesday.

An Indian Express report dated April 3 stated that that the fake videos may have been behind the attack, for which four people have been booked under National Security Act.

“Fake WhatsApp videos claiming that healthy Muslims are being taken away and injected with the virus have been doing the rounds of Tatpatti Bakhal and adjoining localities,” said the article.

The team of doctors, ASHA workers and revenue officials had gone to identify the family members of a 65-year-old man who died after having been infected with the coronavirus. 

Also read: Madhya Pradesh: Two Doctors Hurt in Stone Pelting During Coronavirus Tracking

“They were cooperating in the beginning and answered a few questions before suddenly attacking us,” a member of the help team recounted to the Express.

A resident of Tatpatti Bakhal stated that the residents were suspicious of health workers after fake videos started doing the rounds.

With more than 75 COVID-19 cases reported in the city between March 24 and April 2, Indore in Madhya Pradesh has become the latest cause of worry for authorities.

Till now, police have arrested four people for the attack on the team and charged them under NSA. Earlier, the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had stated that those stopping doctors from their duty “will be strictly dealt with”.

More than 75 positive cases have been reported in Indore between March 24 and April 10 – most of them from 10 localities identified as Ranipura, Nayapura, Khajrana, Tatpatti Bakhal, Daulatganj and Silawatpura.

The surge in new cases were mostly in families whose members had reported positive. “In that sense the threat is limited to few localities,” said divisional commissioner Akash Tripathi. 

He stated that the source of the infection was probably someone who had travelled to Dubai. The only international flight taking off from Madhya Pradesh flies between Indore and Dubai, as per the report.

Madhya Pradesh: Two Doctors Hurt in Stone Pelting During Coronavirus Tracking

The incident occurred in Taat Patti Bakhal area when a team of five was trying to find out the whereabouts of a person.

Indore: Two women doctors were injured on Wednesday in Indore when a team of health officials was pelted with stones while they were trying to trace a person who had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient earlier, police said.

The incident occurred in Taat Patti Bakhal area when the team of five was trying to find out the whereabouts of the person.

A woman doctor said they were rescued by police personnel.

“The moment we started enquiring about that particular person’s health, people started protesting and later some of them hurled stones. We were saved by police personnel,” she said.

Meanwhile, terming the incident as very unfortunate, Indore chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr. Pravin Jadia confirmed that the medical personnel was working to protect people from the coronavirus infection but they were pelted with stones.

“Two women doctors suffered injuries on their legs in the incident. They somehow protected themselves by hiding inside the vehicle of tehsildar,” the CMHO said.

A case has been registered at Chhatripura police station.

A police official said that protesters also broke barricades.