At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH on Thursday, none of the uniformed health workers were on duty except the doctors.
Nurses, pharmacists, lab scientists and other health workers commenced a strike on Monday.
On Wednesday, they carried out a peaceful demonstration at the hospital’s premises, with placards, demanding the full payment of their salaries.
National Mirror visited the surgical emergency ward and discovered that patients were either attending to themselves or taken care of by family members, without the supervision of nurses.
The ward was quiet and mournful, unlike the usual bustling when nurses were around.
Patients looked agitated and abandoned, not sure what their fate would be.
Also, at the pediatric wing, few weary-looking doctors, were seen attending to patients.
One of them, Dr. Bakare, could not even stop to listen when our correspondent met him at the hall way, saying he was too busy.
“As you can see, the nurses are not on seat, so we have a lot of work to do,” he said in haste.
LASUTH health workers chairman, Comrade Rasheed Bamishe, said that the union embarked on the indefinite strike because the government had not acceded to their demands, despite a 21-day ultimatum given since February 18, which expired on March 10.
The workers include members of the National Association Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, National Union of Pharmaceutical and other Allied Medical Professionals, NUPTAM and Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN.
They are protesting the denial of their entitlements such as shift duty allowance, non implementation of CONHESS salary scale, free health services to LASUTH workers, monetisation of uniform allowance and one month salary bonus, as paid to doctors.
Bamishe, at a press briefing recently, lamented the non-implementation of correct CONHESS salary scale.
He said: “We have a standard pay roll by the Lagos State Government called LACONHESS, which is not being implemented here in LASUTH.
“Instead, the management has started a wrong stepping implementation, which has brought down some of our levels and resulted in deduction of salaries.”
The union leader added that Lagos State Government had mandated that salaries be reviewed every three years, but since 2011, the management had not done nothing about it.
The National Deputy President of NANNM, Comrade Rasheed Tonade, said the LASUTH health workers were being made to pay for health services, contrary to Lagos State policy.
According to him, “all government workers in Lagos State are entitled to free medical services, but here, we pay for cards to see a doctor, we pay for blood if our wives wants to deliver and we also sew our uniforms, while there is an allocation for these.”
The workers vowed that the strike would continue indefinitely until their demands are met.
by FRANKA OSAKWE
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
You may also like
UCTH Nurses’ Arrest Highlights Systemic Failures, Not Individual Negligence
The recent protest by nurses at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital…
Breathing Toxicity: Medical Experts Sound Alarm as Pollution and Environmental Neglect Imperil Public Health
As the skies grow thicker and the rivers murkier, Nigeria—and indeed much o…
A New Chapter or a Missed Opportunity? FG Appoints Registrar to Lead Dental Therapists’ Regulation
In what could either mark the beginning of long-overdue reform—or simply an…
When Healing Hands Are Left Empty: Gombe Interns Demand Justice Over Unpaid Wages
In what could soon become a flashpoint for healthcare disruption in northea…
MRHC Project: The Lifesaving Initiative That Cut Maternal Deaths by 99.9% Across Lagos
In a time when maternal deaths remain a devastating reality for thousands o…
