Sharda announces incentives for staff on Covid-19 duty

Greater Noida: Sharda Hospital, an L3 facility in Greater Noida, has started an incentive scheme for 225 paramedical staff working in Covid wards, the hospital authorities said.
The hospital will give Rs 500 to nurses and Rs 300 to general duty attendants (GDA), including ward boys, technicians, junior assistants, as well as junior nurses per day over and above their salaries.
While the scheme will start this month, the incentive money will be credited with July salaries for the paramedics, said a spokesperson for the hospital, Dr Ajit Kumar.
Salary is believed to be the main deterrent in Covid duties. There are 157 nurses and 68 GDAs at the hospital currently. “The salaries of nurses start from Rs 18,000 and go up to Rs 30,000. Similarly, GDAs get salary from Rs 12,500. We decided to give them an incentive for duty in Covid wards so that they feel encouraged,” said Dr Kumar.
With some healthcare workers have fallen prey to the virus earlier, there was resentment among paramedics over long duty hours, especially in Covid wards. “We come from far off places and risk our health. Even if we stay on campus, the salary is too low to work for such long hours. But with the incentive, we may make some additional income in these tough times,” said a healthcare worker.
“There are currently 18 patients in the Covid ICU ward. We need one nurse, one attendant and one sweeper per three patients. In total, we need 72 staff across four shifts starting from 8 am. We will be giving each nurse in Covid ICU Rs 500 per day for 14 days to begin with. This way she will earn Rs 7,000 over and above her salary. Similarly, we will give Rs 300 to GDAs, who in turn will get an additional Rs 4,200,” said Dr Kumar.
Healthcare workers on Covid duty stay on the campus but their minimum duty extends to 14 days . After that, they are placed in normal wards post-seven-day quarantine.