There is a little relief breath for govt. as staff nurses of Fortis Malar Hospital struck off their strike on Wednesday, but strike by Apollo Hospitals are still continuing.

Demanding better salaries and work conditions, strike crisis has been staring at these two hospitals that dealt with postponed at least 40 surgeries.

Due to strike the operating services of nurses in hospitals has been lacked and that’s the reason the hospital authorities decided earlier in the day to stopped new admissions and take up only urgent surgeries.

Source at Fortis Malar said, “There are not just enough experienced people for intensive care units and ventilators. We have stopped all new admissions. We have decided to prioritise cases for surgeries.”

The second strike hit Apollo Hospital said the management is planning to bring more nurses from Hyderabad as critical care wards are running with a staff-patient ratio of 1:4 instead of the stipulated 1:1.

Around 1,500 striking nurses organised a protest near Memorial Hall on Wednesday, and for submitting a memorandum, the representation of the striking nurses met the private secretary of chief minister J Jayalalithaa and the state health secretary.

And after one day while the counterparts in Madras Medical Mission agreed to got back to work with a starting salary of 12,000, Fortis nurses also agreed to a starting package of 11,500 and withdrew the strike on Wednesday.

Despite it, with demanding a minimum starting package of 15,000, more than 800 nurses of Apollo has locked four wards, R, I, A and S, which have 110 beds.

It is expected that the strike will still going on as statement of being support to junior nurses by Senior has revealed, “We have been working considering the emergencies. We are short-staffed and forced to work round the clock.”

Even if management staff does not fulfill their demands, the possibility of senior nurses who head the different nursing departments at Apollo, to join the protest will raise.