Resident doctors, contractual nurses step in to ease patient woes

Already grappling with the challenge of a huge rush of patients, burdened further with the addition of more due to a massive increase in dengue and chikungunya cases, major hospitals in the city roped in services of resident doctors, contractual nurses and medical students to cater to the patients owing to the shortage of permanent nurses who have gone on strike.

Even as the hospital authorities claimed that situation of patient care was not severely affected, most of the resident doctors who were contacted highlighted the difficulties faced by them in dealing with the situation. 

One of the junior resident doctors deputed at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital said: “Normally, the resident doctors are not assigned to provide sterilizations, add or remove IV fluid systems and do indentation of medicines. However, the shortage of nurses had resulted in the resident doctors taking up this additional responsibility.”

Mentioning the services that were affected, the doctor added that endoscopy and dialysis facilities in the hospital were not happening due to the shortage of nurses. Highlighting the fact that RML Hospital was able to function smoothly even after the nurses’ strike, Dr A K Gadpayle, Medical Superintendent at RML told Millennium Post that by 2 pm, the hospital staff was efficiently able to see about 5,603 OPD patients and 59 casualty cases.

When asked whether surgery services at the hospital were being affected, Dr Gadpayle replied: “Surgeries like appendicitis were been done, however, surgeries like those of hernia and gall bladder stones were being deferred.” Not only were the public hospitals under the Central government affected but even the Delhi government hospitals were suffering due to the nurses’ strike.

Even as Liladhar Ramchandani, General Secretary of Delhi Nurses Federation claimed that there were nurses who were dispensing their duties at the emergency and trauma departments, permanent nurses were not to be found in the emergency departments of Lok Nayak and GB Pant hospital.

At heart attack and brain stroke units in GB Pant hospital, there was only one staff nurse deputed for assisting the doctors.