• As health workers’ strike paralyzes public hosiptal

A common parlance goes thus: “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” This saying appears true in view of the recurring faceoff between government and health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).

 

As it is, patients seeking treatment at all Federal Government-owned health institutions may be facing another gruelling times as the gulf in the negotiations between government and health workers’ over the latter’s welfare continues to widen.

 

There seems no end in sight for the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by health workers in public health institutions across the country following growing stalemate in their discussions with government for better working conditions.

 

Representatives of JOHESU, the umbrella body of all health workers at weekend   rejected attempts to begin fresh negotiation with the newly appointed Minister of labour and Productivity.

 

Instead, the group which has petitioned the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, accusing the Federal Government of treating their 12-point demands with “contempt,’ urged its members at both state and Local government to join the strike from midnight Friday November 21, 2014.

 

Their letter which was signed by Comrade (Dr.) Ayuba P. Wabba, Chairman, Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), Comrade Yusuf-Badmus W.G, Secretary and Olumide Akintayo President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria(PSN ) said: “It is pertinent to declare that our 12 – point demand which is sacrosanct must be met before we shall return to the negotiating table with government which has continued to trivialize our welfare demands.

 

The letter copied to the Minister of Health; Minister of Labour & Productivity, Head of Civil Service of the Federation; Chairman, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission; Director General, State Security Services (SSS); President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and President, Trade Union Congress(TUC) directed all members to proceed on strike.

 

“JOHESU, therefore, calls on our members in the states and local government areas to down tools from the midnight of Friday, November 21, 2014,” it stated in a letter to SFG titled, JOHESU/NS/SGF/14/2014 and dated   November 17, 2014.

Some of the demands of the union include total compliance with the extant circular on the promotion of members from CONHESS 14 to 15 as Directors which it noted that some Federal health institutions like the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) and Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital (FNPH) Enugu, have not complied with.

 

The union is also demanding for payment of arrears of specialist allowances to qualified hospital based health professionals with effect from January 1, 2010, and should be paid without any delay.

Others are: “ The Federal Ministry of Health must now come up with a circular on residency programmes for all health professionals in Nigeria; Immediate and full payment of arrears of the skipping of CONHESS 10 which remains outstanding since the year 2010 and Immediate and unconditional release of the circular on adjustment of salary since January 2014 and immediate payment of at least two months arrears, while the balance is accommodated with proven evidence in the 2015 budget, among other demands.

 

Insisting on the 12-point demand before returning to the negotiating table with government, their letter read: “In a similar spirit we shall by this notice inform the

Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) of the chain of events in the last few days and solicit their total support of our strike .”

 

Newswatch Times checks at some of the Federal Government hospitals showed that the paralysis of healthcare delivery across the country may continue or even worsen as this marks the third week when health workers at the state and local government levels commenced strike. Now their Federal counterparts have joined them.

 

Newswatch Times further discovered that activities at various government-owned hospitals have been brought to a halt. In Lagos, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, the Federal Neuro- Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute Meta and National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi have become near-ghost towns as they were deserted by both health workers and patients.

A regular visitor at LUTH, Samuel Adegun , described the atmosphere at the usually busy tertiary hospital as ‘dry.’

 

“The place is dry. The nurses are not working. The pharmacists are not working. The generators are not working. Usually, when power goes out, they put on the generator but this is not so. That goes to show you that nothing is going on.”

 

Speaking to Newswatch Times, a nurse at the hospital who preferred to remain anonymous said that all the patients on admission were discharged except for those who could not pay their bills or those with critical cases. She revealed that though doctors were on hand, there is little they could do to help the patients as there were no support staff to drive the process.

 

“Doctors cannot work effectively because other health workers are not there to assist them. Even if he (a doctor) sees a patient and prescribes a drug for you, there is no pharmacist to attend to you. Patients were discharged. Those who were not discharged are those who could not pay their bills.”

 

In Cross River State Capital, the story was the same as both teaching hospital and general hospitals including the Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar, General Hospital Akamkpa and General Hospital Igoli-Ogoja were shut down.

 

Lamenting the situation, a resident of Calabar, Mrs. Effiong Bassey said that the strike is affecting access to healthcare especially for poor patients as it has forced residents to resort to private hospitals.

“It is very bad and devastating for people especially those who have no money to go to private hospitals.”

 

However, the Federal Government penultimate week had said that the planned strike by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) is unjustifiable, unnecessary and unfortunate.

 

The Supervising Minister of Health, Khaliru Alhassan, stated government’s position at a news conference in Abuja.

 

Alhassan said the decision of JOHESU’s executive to embark on strike from 12 a.m. on November 13 was unnecessary because of ongoing negotiations between the union and government.

 

Meanwhile, JOHESU leaders have indicted the Federal Government for treating the trade dispute with health workers which has been pending since January when they went on a warning strike with levity.

 

The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Olumide Akintayo, had at the opening ceremony of the   its 87th Annual National Conference in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on November 3, 2014 accused government of trading off salient MOUs it signed with JOHESU to placate doctors when they embarked on strike for seven weeks between July and August.

 

Akintayo described recent government’s plea for the new supervising Minister of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity to get familiarize with the various welfare issues being canvassed by PSN/JOHESU for over eight months as ‘delay tactics.’

By: Chioma Umeha