Mumbai: Class IV employees staged a protest at Kasturba Hospital on Monday, alleging they were not getting standardised Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) despite coming in direct contact with COVID-19 patients. This comes after two staffers were infected, resulting in 10 people being quarantined at the hospital.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), medical and non-medical staffers who come in close contact with infected patients must wear PPE.
One of the staffers said they are at the frontline of the corona war and must be armed with good-quality PPE. But the hospital administration has failed to do ensure this.
“We have been given donated kits, which are of cheap quality or HIV PPE, which do not even cover the whole body. Wearing this gear offers no protection and the chances of getting infected increase,” he said.
As against this, doctors and nurses are given the best quality PPE, staffers alleged. Pradeep Govind Narkar, secretary, Municipal Mazdoor Union, Mumbai, said around 300 class IV employees had staged a protest, demanding good quality of PPE.
Following which they met the medical superintendent of the hospital and were assured that soon standardised PPE will be given. As per sources, people donate cheap kits, which have not even been quality checked, and most of the time, the packets are without N-95 or face masks. On a daily basis, Class IV employees carry patients, feed them and regularly help seriously ill patients with hygiene measures.
Not only that, they also have to carry bodies when a patient succumbs to the infection at the hospital. “When we demand standardised PPE, we are threatened, saying we will be served memos or fired,” he added. The hospital has also served notices to some staffers, for raising their voice against the discrimination.
