Due to the failure to extend or renew the contract of the contractor that supplies contract staff to provide patient care at Cooper Hospital, there is a shortage of manpower in various departments of the hospital. As a result, patient services at the hospital have been completely disrupted for the past two days.
The contracts of the medical officer and assistant medical officer, along with the X-ray department, pharmacist, dresser, patient registration staff, have expired. As a result, patients have to wait in line for hours to register, be examined by doctors, and undergo other tests.
Most of the services provided by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hospitals are provided by contract workers. The contract of the contractor providing manpower at Cooper Hospital ended in August. But the hospital administration neglected to issue new contracts for the appointment of medical officers and assistant medical officers, X-ray department, pharmacists, dressers, and patient registration staff.
Medical services at the hospital have been disrupted since Monday due to the expiry of the contractor's contract. Patients coming for treatment have to stand in queues for about one and a half to two hours to register.
Due to the shortage of specialists in the X-ray department, patients are having to wait. Due to the termination of the contract, there are no staff available to bandage. Therefore, patients who come in injured are having to go home without bandages. Similarly, due to the insufficient number of pharmacists, patients have to stand in queues for hours to get medicines, causing immense suffering to the patients.
Letter from hospital doctors to the superintendent
The termination of the services of contractual employees has created a shortage of manpower in various departments.
Due to this, the patient service is being affected and the rush of patients is increasing. If the contract is not extended immediately or a new contract is given, there is a possibility of the patient service coming to a standstill. The doctors of the hospital have sent a letter to the Dean, Dr. Neelam Andrade, stating this.
Request to close disability certificate center
Insufficient staff is making it impossible to register those coming to obtain disability certificates. Therefore, the department has requested the Medical Superintendent of Cooper Hospital to temporarily close the Disability Certification Center located in the hospital.
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“A meeting will be held on September 3 under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner to discuss measures to ensure that patient services are not disrupted. Consideration will be given to extending the deadline to the contractor. Since all these are non-scheduled posts, the process of filling them is likely to take about two months. The hospital administration has revised the proposal submitted by correcting the errors”, said Dr. Neelam Andrade, Dean, Cooper Hospital.
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