Tag: healthcare workers protest

SC to Centre: ‘Ensure Frontline Worker Salaries Paid on Time, Quarantine Not Treated as Leave’

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that many states have complied with the directions but some of them like Maharashtra, Punjab, Tripura and Karnataka have not paid salaries to the doctors and healthcare workers on time.

New Delhi: Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka and Tripura are yet to follow directives on timely payment of salaries to healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19, the Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court, which said it cannot be “helpless” in implementing the directions.

The court directed the Centre to issue necessary directions for releasing salaries of doctors and frontline healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19 duty on time.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah asked the Centre to also clarify on treating compulsory quarantine period of healthcare workers as leave and deduction of their salaries for the same period.

“If the states are not complying with the directions and orders of the Central government, you are not helpless. You have to ensure that your order is implemented. You have got the power under the Disaster Management Act. You can take steps also”, the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre.

Mehta said that after the top court’s directions on June 17, necessary orders were issued on June 18 to all the states, with regard to payment of salaries to healthcare workers.

Also read: Centre Revises Quarantine Period to 1 Week for Doctors, Health Workers in COVID-19 Facilities

He said that many states have complied with the directions but some of them like Maharashtra, Punjab, Tripura and Karnataka have not paid salaries to the doctors and healthcare workers on time.

Senior Advocate K.V. Vishwanathan, appearing for petitioner Arushi Jain, said the high-risk and low-risk classification made by the Centre has no basis and the government advisory of June 18 after the top court’s order has no rationale basis.

He said that there is still non-payment of salaries to healthcare workers.

The bench was hearing a plea of Dr Arushi Jain, a private doctor questioning the Centre’s May 15 decision that 14-day quarantine was not mandatory for doctors.

The top court also took note of an application filed by United Resident Doctors Association (URDA) through advocates Mithu Jain, Mohit Paul and Arnav Vidyarthi that salaries of doctors are being deducted for the period of compulsory quarantine treating it as leave period.

To this, Mehta conceded that “the said period can’t be treated as leave” and said that he would take necessary instructions on the issue.

He said the Central government will take steps to ensure that the salaries of doctors and healthcare workers are paid on time.

The top court posted the matter for further hearing on August 10.

On June 17, the top court had directed the Centre to issue orders in 24-hours to all states and Union Territories for payment of salaries to doctors and healthcare workers as also for providing suitable quarantine facilities for those who are directly engaged in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Also read: As COVID-19 Sweeps Karnataka, ASHA Workers, AYUSH Doctors Strike for Better Pay

It had said, “The Central government shall issue an appropriate direction to the chief secretary of the states/Union Territories to ensure that the orders are faithfully complied with, violation of which may be treated as an offence under the Disaster Management Act read with the Indian Penal Code.”

Dr Jain had also alleged in her plea that frontline healthcare workers engaged in the fight against COVID-19 are not being paid salaries or their wages are being cut or delayed.

The Centre had earlier told the top court that the May 15 circular on the standard operating procedure (SOP) will also be modified, doing away the clause for non-mandatory quarantine for healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19 duty, and they will not be denied the quarantine.

On June 12, the top court had observed, In war, you do not make soldiers unhappy. Travel an extra mile and channel some extra money to address their grievances.

It had said that the courts should not be involved in the issue of non-payment of salary to healthcare workers and the government should settle the issue.

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.

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

Many are leaving the city because private hospitals are deducting salaries and fear of contracting the disease due to insufficient protective gear.

New Delhi: Facing exhaustive working hours, sub-standard protective gears, low salaries and no assurance of their safety from the government, reports suggest that several nurses employed in Delhi’s private healthcare sector have resigned.

Nurses, many of whom are from other parts of the country, are particularly worried about contracting COVID-19 amidst inadequate treatment facilities in the national capital.

Rince Joseph, the president of the United Nurses Association, a nation-wide association comprising of about 5.2 lakhs nurses, wrote to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying the staff is worried for their lives, according to the Indian Express.

“The staff is worried for their lives. There are no quarantine facilities and many are leaving the city. Many private hospitals are also deducting salaries. We have written several times to both the governments, state and Centre, but there has been no reply,” the letter says.

With COVID-19 cases rising sharply every day, two nurses in Delhi have died from the viral infection, while more than 800 healthcare workers have tested positive. On Thursday, the state reported a record spike of 2,877 cases, taking the total tally in the national capital past 49,000. The death toll is currently at 1,969.

Hospitals report substantial drop 

Various private hospitals in Delhi have registered a substantial drop in the number of nurses employed with them before the lockdown.

Saroj Super Speciality Hospital, a dedicated COVID-19 facility, now has only 60 nurses, down from 262 before the lockdown. In early June, the nursing staff at the hospital went on a one-day strike to demand better salaries for handling COVID-19 patients, according to the Indian Express.

On June 10, after the hospital was ordered by the Delhi government to be turned into a COVID-19-only facility, the nurses again went on a strike.

Also Read: A Nurse in PPE Fainted in a Building. What Happened Next Shouldn’t Surprise You.

The hospital reportedly promised an increase in their salaries, after which a few nurses resumed work. “Around 40 of our nurses have already resigned as their parents were worried for them. Many stopped coming during the lockdown due to the limited availability of public transportation,” Dr P.K. Bharadwaj, chief executive director of the hospital, told the Indian Express. “Last week, the nurses went on strike though some of them joined back after we promised a raise. As of now, we have 60 nurses.”

At the Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital, 40 nurses have resigned after it was declared a COVID-19 dedicated hospital. “Around 40 nurses employed with Sir Ganga Ram city hospital resigned when it became COVID-19-only. There were 110 nurses at the city hospital, and to meet the shortage, staff from the main hospital were brought in. Besides, many are under quarantine since they have been directly dealing with Covid patients. We are seeing how to fill the gap,” Dr D.S. Rana, chairman of the hospital’s board told Express.

Similarly, the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute (DHLI) is functioning with just 60% of its nurses at the moment.

Medics wearing PPE kits with COVID-19 suspected patients at AIIMS. Photo: PTI

Primus Hospital files case

Meanwhile, the Primus Super Speciality Hospital has filed an FIR against nurses who have demanded Rs 1,500 per day as COVID-19 allowance. The medical superintendent of the hospital wrote to the SDM (Chanakyapuri) claiming that the nurses had abandoned patients and their duties “with certain ulterior motive”, according to the Indian Express.

However, the nurses rejoined duty on Thursday night after the hospital’s administration assured them that their duty hours would be reduced.

Private hospitals, meanwhile, are blaming the government for the nursing staff feeling insecure. “Our staff was not even given time to be trained to handle a pandemic like this. Most of the nurses are from other states and have no social security here. They were never made to feel secure,” Dr Chandra Prakash, president of the Delhi Voluntary Hospital Forum that includes around 40 private hospitals told the Indian Express.