Chandigarh, Mar 24 (PTI) Outpatient Department services at the PGIMER here will remain closed on Friday in view of the strike call given by outsourced workers there. However, the emergency and ICU services will remain functional.
The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has sought cooperation from the public, hospitals and medical Institutes in the city and adjoining areas, asking the authorities there not to refer patients to the hospital.
“In an unprecedented turn of events, we have been constrained to close the outpatient department (OPD) services for tomorrow. However, we have chalked out a contingency plan for optimum functioning of hospital services,” Prof Ashok Kumar, official spokesperson, PGIMER, said on Thursday.
The outsourced workers, most of whom are hospital attendants and sanitation workers, are demanding “equal pay for equal work”, sources said.
The emergency services at Nehru Hospital, APC, ACC, AEC and Advanced Trauma Centre (of PGIMER) shall be provided with limited capacity, Kumar said, adding that patients admitted there will continue to be provided care.
Soliciting cooperation, the institute urged the hospitals in Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UP not to refer patients to the PGIMER.
“All elective operation theatres in Nehru Hospital, APC, ACC, and AEC shall be closed,” he said.
“As far as indoor admissions are concerned, the institute expresses inability to admit any fresh case in indoor areas for tomorrow. The patients already admitted shall be provided care. The diagnostic labs shall provide only emergency services,” the spokesperson said.
The PGIMER statement quoting the spokesperson said the institute empathises with its patients for the inconvenience and suffering caused to them due to the strike call.
“So, we are trying to facilitate them as much as possible and they can avail our tele-consultation services at the specified numbers for various departments,” he said. The institute doesn’t have sufficient number of regular staff to cover for all patient care areas, he said, as per the statement. PTI SUN RDK RDK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.