Pune: Sassoon Hospital Resident Doctors To Go On Strike If Demands For Facilities Not Met Before Increasing Beds For COVID Patients  

Mubarak Ansari

Pune, 16 April 2021: As the number of Coronavirus disease (COVID19) patients in Pune is increasing, the administration has decided to increase the number of beds in Sassoon Hospital. But there is also a need to increase ventilators, oxygen beds and manpower. If the administration did not take a positive decision considering these demands till 9 am on Saturday, doctors will go on strike and will stop the work, said the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) unit of the Sassoon Hospital run by the state government.

Against the backdrop of the non-availability of beds for the treatment of Covid patients in Pune, the administration is emphasizing increasing the number of beds in government hospitals as well as private hospitals. Similarly, the administration has decided to increase the beds in Sassoon Hospital. However, it is now being opposed by MARD.

However, the doctors have stated that no emergency services, including the Covid Ward, will be affected by the strike. Some of the resident doctors said the COVID situation in Pune is getting worse by the day.

“We understand this situation. However, the administration should increase the number of beds and provide adequate manpower, ventilators, oxygen, medical staff and other necessary facilities. Then increase the number of beds for COVID patients. The administration is not serious about this”, the doctors said.

MARD secretary Dnyaneshwar Jamkar said, “We have been doing patient care for the last one year. Sassoon hospital currently has 550 corona and 450 other patients. However, the number of resident doctors is only 450. If 300 more beds are added, at least 100 doctors will be needed. Only then will it be possible to provide better service to patients. A meeting was held with the Collector. We have also put our demands before them. We want to increase our manpower. If no positive response is received, it has been decided to close non-emergency services from Saturday (17th April).”

The students said that increasing the number of beds without manpower would destroy the patient’s treatment management system. Also, beds will be made but do the administration have the necessary manpower and equipment? There is no quarantine or isolation facility for doctors on duty during the Covid period, so in one month, 80 of our resident doctors were infected with Covid. We have been requesting the administration for necessary measures for the last one and a half months and no action has been taken by the administration so far, the doctors said.