Hospital services suspended

KOLKATA: The emergency services in Mercy Hospital on Park Street were suspended from Sunday night after a discord between the management and some employees over shifting of the hospital canteen from the basement to the ground floor in the annexe building. A manager of the hospital was heckled and a security staff member injured when they tried to prevent the agitating employees from disturbing hospital services.

The Mercy hospital has been running its canteen in the basement of the hospitals main building since its inception. But Recently the fire service department had recommended shifting the cooking area from the basement. The hospital was waiting approval from the fire service department for relocation of the canteen to the ground floor of the annexe builing when the AMRI fire happened. Therefore the management decided to shift the canteen on temporary basis to the proposed place before the approval came.

"It was a pro-active measure by the management to relocate the canteen. We can not afford to take risk after the Friday fire tragedy at AMRI. But some employees with a vested interest are objecting to it and trying to hamper services. Therefore, we have decided to close down emergency services till further notice," said Sanjay Prasad, executive director and CEO of Mercy Hospital.

Recently, the fire services department had recommended shifting the cooking area from the basement.

The closing of the basement canteen sparked fear among some employees and canteen staff that they were losing job. They then went on protest. Insiders also said that part of the basement was also used for dumping waste that used to be sold by group D staff. Keeping the basement free of these waste means losing a part of their income.

There was panic as rumour did the round that the hospital was closing down. The 170 bed hospital has got about 100 patients currently.

Article Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Hospital-services-suspended/articleshow/11076478.cms