These doctors are part of a team of 18 consultants who divide their duties between Cooper Hospital in Andheri/Vile Parle and the Jogeshwari trauma centre. While Cooper’s doctors also await fresh contracts, the Jogeshwari unit has borne the brunt of the uncertainty, with critical services paralysed for nearly two weeks when the contracts first lapsed.
The doctors’ one-year agreements expired on August 24. Traditionally, these contracts are extended seamlessly, with the paperwork following after a few months. This year, however, doctors were abruptly told not to report for duty from August 25. “We stopped working from August 29. Most major departments here are run by consultants. Without us, services collapsed,” said a staffer, requesting anonymity.
Impact on essential services
The absence of senior consultants immediately threw essential services into disarray. The dialysis unit had to be shut down, surgeries were suspended, and the paediatric department nearly collapsed. Between August 25 and September 5, at least 15 trauma surgeries were cancelled, routine operations came to a standstill, and more than 100 young patients were turned away.
The trauma centre typically sees over 1,000 outpatients daily and admits close to 100 in-patients, many of them in critical condition. Normally, four to five surgeries are performed every day. In the absence of doctors, junior assistant medical officers, postgraduate students, and makeshift reinforcements from Cooper Hospital were left struggling to cope. “This patchwork system only highlighted how dependent the hospital is on its doctors. Yet we are treated as if we are dispensable,” said a senior doctor.
Repeated complaints were made to deputy municipal commissioner (Health) Sharad Ughade, additional commissioner (Health) Vipin Sharma, and acting dean Dr Neelam Andrade. On September 4, the doctors were assured that their contracts would be renewed soon and were asked to return to duty the next day. The BMC also confirmed this to HT. Three weeks later, however, no progress has been made. Instead, doctors say the medical superintendent has informed them that new contracts may be issued with the clause “until further notice.” Salaries for August have still not been credited, and consultants remain entitled to just 16 days of leave annually.
With working hours of 9am to 4pm, most doctors cannot pursue private practice, leaving them financially dependent on the civic contracts. Many now fear they will be asked to reapply for their posts through fresh interviews, even though most have crossed the age limit of 30 for permanent government recruitment.
Several of the doctors have been serving since before the Covid-19 pandemic and are now in their 40s, with no realistic alternative career options. “Tomorrow they could just tell us to stop coming. Even if we silently protest for a single day, the hospital will be thrown into chaos,” said one consultant.
For now, the nine specialists continue to keep Jogeshwari’s trauma centre functioning, out of a sense of duty to patients. They manage emergencies ranging from burns, fractures, and dialysis cases to paediatric and plastic surgery — services provided free of cost to thousands of residents in western Mumbai. But morale is rapidly eroding. “Our contracts have lapsed, our salaries are unpaid, and yet we are still held responsible in medico-legal cases. Officials say interviews may only take place in January, but until then we are left hanging by a thread. If we stop work, the hospital will collapse,” said another consultant.
Giving a glimmer of hope, Sharad Ughade told HT, “We have already told the consultants to continue. The contracts are already underway, and will be done very soon.”
A senior BMC official maintained that the matter is under process. “The file is in process. Senior approvals and revisions are pending. It will happen soon,” the official said.
