300 surgeries cancelledin the JJ group of hospitals

About 300 planned surgeries in the JJ group of hospitals were cancelled on Tuesday after nearly 1,500 nurses belonging to the Maharashtra Government Nursing Federation went on a token strike. However, emergency work went on without any interruptions.

“We did not plan a single surgery for today. All the emergency operations went well,” said Dr TP Lahane, dean of JJ hospital.

Meanwhile a 70-year-old man was rushed to the JJ hospital with a skull fracture.  There was a slight delay in the surgery as one of the nurses had locked the neurosurgery operation theatre which had to be opened. The man was finally operated upon.

Of the 562 nurses on duty in all the four hospitals — JJ, St George, Cama and Albless, and GT — 162 attended work.  Kasturi Kadam, joint secretary of the nursing federation, said: “We ensured that patients do not suffer because of our strike. If our demands are not met, we will go on an indefinite strike on June 27.”

However, Dr Alaka Deshpande, in charge of emergency services on Tuesday, said, “There was no problem today. We admitted 15 people.”