IGMH: We are looking into petition by ER nurses

Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the main state hospital in Maldives, states it is looking into a petition submitted by nurses at the hospital’s ER last month.

In a statement on Sunday, IGMH denied it took any retaliatory action against any of the nurses who signed the petition. The hospital said the decision to shuffle nurses between different departments had nothing to do with the petition.

The petition, signed by 32 local nurses from the ER, was submitted to the hospital’s management on June 15. The petition expresses concern over the ER in-charge, including being forced to work despite being sick, mismanagement, and ill treatment of staff.

Some of the nurses who signed the petition told Sun that though the hospital said it was looking into the petition, they had yet to see any action being taken.

“It has been one-and-a-half months since we submitted the petition. There has been no progress,” said one nurse.

The nurses said the hospital’s claim the transfer of nurses wasn’t linked to the petition was false.

“Following the petition, the Nurse’s Department met with official in-charges and said they wished to transfer nurses from the ER. And the nurses selected for transfer from other departments are juniors,” said one nurse.

The nurses said it was common for the hospital to transfer staff as retaliation for petitions.