WORKERS of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Meta, Lagos have given management up till Tuesday to meet their demands or face a strike.

 

The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) yesterday accused the management of not paying their promotional arrears for three years.

 

JOHESU chairman Shehu Sulaimon told reporters after the workers’ protest on the hospital premises that many are scared of using the hospital because of its decaying infrastructure and rise in service charge.

 

Sulaimon called for improved staff welfare, saying workers’ morale was low because of some steps taken by the management.

 

‘’It has been a protracted issue that we have been discussing with our management.

 

“For instance, they have not done anything about the promotion arrears which have not been paid and only God knows the reason.

 

“We heard that other FMCs have collected their arrears and the budget office at the Ministry of Finance confirmed that our centre is not being owed promotion arrears. It means that our hospital has collected the arrears just like FMC Owerri too, yet we have not been paid. Where is the money?

 

“We gave the management 14 days ultimatum that elapsed without doing anything; we gave another seven-day ultimatum and our Managing Director decided to travel out during this period. I wonder how the head of a house would travel while his house is on fire,” Sulaimon said.

 

He enjoined the management of the hospital to upgrade the equipment in the hospital to make the hospital attractive to the public.

 

Chairman, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), FMC, Ebute Meta chapter, Mrs Blessing Israel, said the use of outdated equipment was affecting internally generated revenue because of the dwindling number of patients.

 

 

“The equipment are outdated and with outdated equipment, you cannot really work efficiently. We need new equipment; light is nothing to write home about; patients scream at night because they are always in the dark throughout the night; the members of staff are not encouraged to give their best due to poor welfarism. The generating set is very old and not functioning well.

 

“The tariff is very high and because of this, we are not really having patients, if the tariff should come down, patients will come and we will be happy to work. We don’t want to be made redundant; let them bring down the charges,” Israel said.

 

Medical and Health Union Chairman, FMC, Ebute Meta chapter, Mr Julius Achonwa, said the workers were being treated like second-class citizens.

 

He said: “Can you imagine you can’t speak your local language to any patient here; you get query for doing so – my mother tongue? How do you communicate with a patient who doesn’t understand English language?

 

“One pathetic aspect of our case was when one of our staff died, the management sent people to attend the burial. On their way back, the bus had an accident; one died and some were taken to the nearest hospitals, but many of the injured ones were brought here. The management refused to pay the medical bills of those treated here. 

 

Those that used their money for the treatment are yet to collect refund from the management.”

 

According to him, no staff has gone on training in the last four years.

 

“We are here dying silently; we are begging the government to come to our rescue and if care is not taken, this place will die a natural death,” he said.

 

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the hospital’s Medical Director, Mrs Yewande Jinadu, when contacted on phone, said she was on leave and was outside the country.

 

Mr Emmanuel Okone, Director, Administration and Human Resources, when contacted, declined comment. “You are talking to the wrong person on this issue,” he said.

 

By: Tajudeen Adebanjo