BREAKING NEWS, Health
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THE relative peace in the health sector on Wednesday suffered another setback as all health workers in Federal Government hospitals embarked on a seven-day nationwide warning strike.
They union went on strike even though the resident doctors are yet to resume work despite the sack treat by the federal government, and just as the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, began recruitment of a new batch of trainee doctors.
According to Vanguard, little or no healthcare activities was going on in some of the hospitals on Lagos mainland. Health workers under the auspices of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, and the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, had embarked on an indefinite strike to pressure the government to meet their demands.
Patients were left unattended even as pharmacists, record officers and lab scientists among others shunned essential services. In a jointly signed statement, the Medical and Health workers under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, and the Assembly of Health care Professionals, AHPA, expressed displeasure over what they described as Federal government nonchalant attitude’ .
In an interview chairman, JOHESU, Shaba Johnson Adetokunbo explained that the leadership of JOHESU has met with the Ministry of Labour but the meeting ended in deadlock. He queried why government would continue to dishonour agreements it entered into with the union.
“We have just started a 7 days warning strike this morning. Basically all the workers in every federal government hospitals are on strike. The government wants a new negotiation. But we are saying that an agreement is an agreement. If you take over an organisation you will also be ready to take over the assets and liabilities. Government is a continuous process.”
Meanwhile, LUTH has begun its annual recruitment of new resident doctors. More than 100 doctors were seen waiting to be interviewed. Reacting to the recruitment, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof Chris Bode, said the recruitment was a coincidence to the Federal government directives. He said the new doctors had earlier undergone examinations before the directive and a date for the interview fixed. “The interview of the new doctors has nothing to do with Federal Government directives. We have already conducted exams for them. The date of the interview only coincided with government’s directive.”
Confirming that the hospital management had received the circular to replace striking resident doctors, Bode said the sack may not affected their doctors as over 95 percent of resident doctors in the hospital were at work while the strike was going on.
In a related development, the President, LUTH-ARD, Akinkunmi Afolabi faulted reports making the rounds that striking doctors had suspended the strike, insisting that it is only the National Executive Council, NEC, that can call off or suspend the strike. Afolabi however, confirmed negotiation was ongoing with the Federal government to end the action. “We are not enjoying strike rather we are saying let the issues on ground be resolved because we have been on this issue since 2013. We expect that the issues would be looked at critically, so as to find lasting solution to the crisis.
Reacting on the ongoing recruitment of new resident doctors, he said: “I am aware that recruitment is ongoing in LUTH, but it is not connected to the industrial action because it had been on for months before now. In LUTH alone we have about 500 members and the duration of the resident training programme differ from specialty to specialty. – Vanguard
— Jun 22, 2016 @ 8:40 GMT
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