In view of the notice of Mass Casual Leave by OT Technical Staff Association, the PGI Administration had made arrangements for redeployment of staff to ensure that our operation theatres function smoothly. As a result the number of surgeries performed today was similar to any other day.
Till 3 pm on 3/2/2011, 99 major surgeries out of the planned 129 had already been completed and the rest were under progress. Forty surgeries had been performed in the main OT (Gynae, General Surgery, ENT, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Ortho, Urology and Radiotherapy), 41 in the Eye OT, 8 in New Emergency OT, 3 in Advanced Cardiac Centre , 5 in Advanced Pediatric Centre and 2 in Transplant Surgery OT.
It has always been the endeavour of administration to resolve genuine demands through meetings/negotiations with the Employees Unions/Associations. The matter regarding the demands of Operation Theatre Technical Staff Association was discussed in the recent Governing Body meeting and it was unanimously decided that the matter would be referred to Finance Ministry. The Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Gulam Nabi Azad offered to personally intervene and apprise the Union Finance Minister about the demands of the Association. The Association was apprised of the same by the administration. Despite this, the PGI OT technical staff has proceeded on mass casual leave.
The strike, however, has no impact on the number of elective surgeries done. No surgery was postponed or deferred due to lack of OT technicians.