Hundreds of patients may suffer, as 1,800 class IV employees at JJ hospital have decided to go on strike, starting today.
The hospital union decided to protest against the alleged misbehaviour faced by a staff member at the hands of a doctor. The employee Nita (name changed) had sought treatment from a doctor at the hospital yesterday. Nita’s husband, who is also an employee of the hospital, said, “When she asked for Dr Sagar’s medical advice, he threw the case paper at her face. When I asked him why he was behaving like that, he shouted at me to get out.”
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“The doctor refused to treat Nita. We approached the superintendent to sort out the matter, but even when he requested, the doctor refused to treat her. If this is how staff members are treated, what will happen to patients who come from all over the state for treatment?” said workers from the JJ Hospital State Government Workers’ Union.
Union members are waiting for the dean to take action on the issue. “We have sent a letter to the dean and are awaiting his response. We don’t demand an apology from Dr Sagar, but some action should be taken against him to make him realise that he has made a mistake,” added a union worker.
“The staff wanted to shut down the out OPD today after the incident; we requested them against it as we know what a hospital means. But this is not the first time that this happened. The same doctor has misbehaved with a nurse earlier. We can’t just keep ignoring the issue,” added a union member.
Dr Sagar refused to comment on the issue. A doctor from the same department said, “Staff members should behave properly with a doctor. They usually behave badly.” Dr Jadhav, superintendent of JJ hospital, refused to comment on the issue. The hospital’s dean, Dr T P Lahane, said, “It was a minor issue which has been sorted out. There will be no strike.”u00a0