A death of an AIIMS nurse during her pregnancy caused five doctors to be suspended. After protests and strike threats by doctors, they were reinstated. But now the AIIMS nurses' union has threatened further action
Sitting in the waiting area, 18-year-old Tripti Srivastava and her mother waited all day, hoping for a doctor to show up at the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Tuesday. Tripti, who is living on one damaged kidney, and is on dialysis, desperately needed medical attention.
Instead, she and her family were in for a rude shock as they saw the country's top medical institute paralysed as doctors and nurses were embroiled in a bitter face-off on Tuesday.
"She has been on dialysis for the last 10 days. Doctors have asked us to go for a kidney transplant but we don't have a donor. So, we were here to meet the doctors and apply for the process," said Nisha Srivastava, her mother.
"For us, every minute is important. We can't afford to waste a single second. As we entered the campus, we were told that doctors are on strike and we will have to come back on Wednesday now," she added. Tripti's was not the only case. Hundreds of patients visiting the country's premier medical institute had to go back.
Resident doctors at AIIMS went on a partial strike on Tuesday after the hospital administration refused to revoke the suspension orders of the five resident doctors over a nurse's death due to alleged negligence. The services at OPD and in-patient departments were badly affected with doctors in a rebellious mood, with some even refusing to treat patients.
Such an attitude can cause chaos in an institute which has, on average, a footfall of more than 10,000 people a day, with many patients coming from several other states also.
During the day, the medical campus had become a battleground with both doctors and nurses threatening to go on strike if their demands are not met. Doctors had also threatened to close the critical care and emergency services on Tuesday if the administration failed to pay heed to their demand.
On Tuesday evening, the AIIMS administration revoked the suspension order of five doctors, after it did not find any substantial evidence against medical practitioners. After the orders, doctors decided to resume their services.
"The preliminary fact-finding inquiry report has found that there is no substantial evidence of any intentional gross medical negligence. The suspension orders of the junior and the senior resident doctors have been immediately revoked," AIIMS said in its circular.
After a meeting with the administration on Tuesday, doctors have suggested the names of five staff members who include nurses and technicians involved in the incident.
"These need to be examined by the inquiry committee on similar lines as residents, and should not be allowed to continue duty/sent on paid leave till the committee comes out with its final verdict," the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) said in its letter to the director.
The nurses union says it is unhappy with the decision by the AIIMS administration and they could continue their agitation. The incident goes back to January 16 when Rajbir Kaur, a nurse with AIIMS, was admitted to the hospital for pregnancy.
According to Sukhlal Jat, a member of the nursing union, Kaur was admitted to the hospital for normal delivery but during treatment, she lost her baby and was put on life support. She died late night on Saturday. Following this, the nursing union went on strike, demanding the suspension of five resident doctors.
Hospital sources said the five doctors, who were on duty in the operation theatre, had decided to perform a Caesarean surgery on the nurse, Rajbir Kaur, as there were some complications. The nurse suffered a cardiac arrest during the surgery, leading to more complications. But without taking this into consideration, the administration put them under suspension, the resident doctors alleged.
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also written a letter to the AIIMS Director in and have voiced its solidarity with the resident doctors.
"We again demand the immediate rollback of the suspension order, pending the final report of the inquiry committee constituted by you to look into the whole matter," said Dr KK Aggarwal, president, IMA.
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