Strike adds to patients’ pain

Charu Chhibber

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 26

Hundreds of patients suffered inconvenience at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in the wake of the strike by over 1,200 contractual employees that lasted over three and a half hours. The contractual workers, including sanitation and security staff, hospital attendants and paramedical staff, were protesting against the non-payment of Diwali bonus.

Health services, including laboratory tests, and sanitation were affected by the strike even as patients and their families could not find hospital attendants to bring and pull stretchers. Countless patients had to either walk down or be carried inside the hospital in the absence of hospital attendants. Police personnel, meanwhile, could be seen lending a helping hand to patients’ attendants in taking them to the Emergency and wards.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Nidhi, whose brother had suffered a foot injury, said, “We could not find a stretcher. My brother was forced to walk in excruciating pain. He could not bear it and collapsed outside the Emergency. We had to seek help from other patients’ attendants to take him inside.”

Radhika Rani, another patient’s attendant, rued that her 12-year-old sister was suffering from very high fever and was unable to walk due to stomach ache. “There was no one to take her inside the hospital. My father had to carry her to the Emergency. Even there we could not find any hospital attendant to assist us. It took us four and a half hours to get her blood test done,” she said.

Akash, an Ambala resident, said his mother was to be operated upon for an eye infection today but he was informed in the morning that the surgery had been postponed due to the strike.

Meanwhile, the strike was called off around 11.30 am after the contractor assured the protesting workers that Diwali bonus would be given to them. Half of the bonus amount – Rs 3,500 – was given to the workers in the evening with an assurance that the remaining half would be released within two days.

Earlier in the day, the contractor had offered to pay Rs 3,500 as bonus to the workers but the proposal was rejected by the protesters, who were demanding the full amount of Rs 7,000.