New Delhi|Ekta
Around 5000 nurses of AIIMS went on strike results to 90 surgeries had to be postponed at AIIMS today . The patients affected as the emergency unit remained shut.
The nurses’ union at AIIMS has been demanding higher pay than what has been recommended by the 7th Central Pay Commission. They have also threatened to go on an indefinite strike from March 27 if their demands for revision of pay scales and a hike in allowances are not met. AIIMS officials said they have forwarded their demands to the Health Ministry.
Several patients were forced to visit other hospitals in wake of the nurses’ strike, even as the AIIMS authorities likened the protest to “blackmailing and arm-twisting” of administration at the cost of poor patients.
The patients who came to the trauma centre today were forced to go to the nearby Safdarjung Hospital and others hospitals.
The security guards deployed at the gates turned away patients from the emergency department, which treats around 2,000 patients every day. Those who managed to get inside had to spend hours waiting for doctors to see them.
On the other hand BJP MP Jagdambika Pal — pre-scheduled surgeries at the AIIMS here were put off on Friday when thousands of nurses went on a day-long strike. His surgery was being treated in VIP category.” according to doctor. Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said 90 surgeries were postponed because 5,000 nurses refused to work, demanding a special pay hike.
