ABUJA – Patients seeking medical attention in public health facilities across the country have continued to groan under the protracted nationwide strike by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) workers,
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reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
A survey by NAN on the ongoing industrial action revealed that the strike has adversely affected normal healthcare delivery services and is claiming lives.
JOHESU is a group that comprises the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN); [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), and Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals.
Other members are the Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (STAUTHRAI); Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professions (NUAHP) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions.
NAN recalls that the JOHESU’s indefinite strike began nationwide on Nov.12, 2014, and health workers in state public hospitals joined the strike on Dec. 4, 2014.
The strike is to press home demands over agreements entered between the union and government on improved working conditions, equipment, facilities and infrastructure in public health institutions.
The workers are protesting what they regard as government’s alleged non-implementation of the agreements reached with the union on the proposed reforms in the health sector.
Following this, several patients including the ones in critical conditions were forced to discharge themselves due to paralysis of medical services in some federal-government owned hospitals in the country.
Some, however, lost their lives due to unavailability of medical personnel in some hospitals, to attend to them during emergency.
Reports from the National Hospital, Abuja, Wuse, Maitama, Gwagwalada and Asokoro general hospitals indicate that medical doctors are providing normal services.
The report also said the doctors are attending to in- and out-patients with the assistance of some auxiliary personnel, and some newly recruited nurses and midwives.
At the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Metta, Lagos, the hospital`s main gate was locked with security personnel turning people back.
An official, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that only few patients were in the wards as most patients had left for alternative medical care.
“Since the strike commenced and emergency services were withdrawn, a lot of our patients had to discharge themselves. The doctors are attending to them, but they can only do very little.
“For some time now, patronage from patients has reduced significantly, the hospital too has not been admitting patients, you can see that the security men are turning people back right from the gate,’’ he said.
Mr Ebenezer Akande, the immediate past president of the Health Workers` Union, FMC chapter, told NAN that they were in total compliance with the strike.
“We have not been going to work since the strike began and that is because our demands have not been met and the national body has not given any directive to call off the strike,’’ he said.
Mr Henry Etim, Head, Corporate Affairs Department of FMC, confirmed that the doctors had been rendering skeletal services since the commencement of the strike.
“Whenever any of the health professionals go on strike, there is no way there will be adequate healthcare in the hospital.
“Patients on admission had been discharged but we have been rendering skeletal services. The accident and emergency ward is open for skeletal services.
“We are not admitting new patients, but doctors attend to patients daily as outpatients,’’ he said.
However, patients were left unattended to at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos.
A NAN check around the hospital discovered that all the wards in the hospitals were almost empty, except for few patients on admission while the emergency ward and offices remained locked.
All the entrances to the wards were guarded by security personnel. A few patients who were still in the wards were seen unattended to.
It was also discovered that in the Male Ward G, out of the 28 beds in the ward, only five patients remained.
A relation of one of the patients, who identified herself as Mrs Nancy Oruche, told NAN that most of the patients left on their own.
“For some time now, the doctors have not been coming to attend to patients and most of the patients had to go and seek care somewhere else.
“The medical condition of my brother who had been on admission since last year had worsened as a result of the ongoing strike.
“We do not have money to go to private hospitals which is why we are still in the hospital,’’ she said.
Oruche also said that some of the remaining patients dressed their wounds themselves or ask relatives to do the dressing.
She further lamented over lack of portable drinking, bathing and washing water as well as power supply.
She also said that some hospital officials had advised them to leave as they would be denied adequate care as a result of the strike.
The hospital management could not be reached as their offices were under lock and key.
But at the Randle General Hospital, Maternal and Childcare Centre, mothers and their babies were seen being attended to by doctors and nurses.
Dr MorufAbdusalam, the President, Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), said that doctors were attending to patients at the facility.
Abdusalam said that some patients on admission were attended to by some house officers and senior nurses.
He said: “Only surgeries are not being carried out in the hospital as the workers in charge of tidying up after are on strike.
“Although, activities at the hospital is not as it used to be, yet we do the best we can by attending to our patients,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the President, ARD, Federal Neuro-Psychiatry Hospital, Yaba, Dr Olusegun Akinwotu, said that the accident and emergency department still attended to emergencies.
Akinwotu said that some patients were still on admission and were being attended to by the doctors available.
“Although, we are experiencing skeletal services, yet doctors are working,’’ he said.
Similarly, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Mr Ajala Olugbenga, told NAN that their members were rendering skeletal services in the interest of those critically ill and on admission in the hospital.
Olugbenga is the Chairman, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), LUTH Chapter.
NAN recalls that the Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (ARD-LUTH) chapter, Idi-Araba, said its members were performing their duties in spite of the health workers strike.
Also at LUTH, a resident doctor who pleaded anonymity said that they had been attending to patients since the health workers’ strike.
“We have opened temporary files for every patient and we can get their medical history.
“If anyone requires a laboratory test or need to buy drugs we refer them to private diagnostic centres outside.
“We have even discovered that some drugs are cheaper outside than when purchase in the hospital’s pharmacy,” he said.
Dr Moronkola Ramon, President of the Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (ARD-LUTH) chapter, Idi-Araba, said its members were performing their duties in spite of the health workers strike.
“Doctors in LUTH, and other hospitals in Lagos and across the country are not on strike.
“We are always at our duty posts and have been taking our calls. We are committed to the emergence of an efficient and sustainable health system for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“However, the smooth operation of the hospital had been challenged by the absence of the striking allied health workers.
“Since the commencement of JOHESU strike, the power supply has become more unreliable; consumables and equipment were locked away by the striking workers.
“We have been able to keep the hospital running to the best of our ability.
“For instance, as a senior registrar in the cardiology unit, I know the consultants and residents in the unit attend to over 50 patients during our clinic which almost equals the number we usually see,” he said.
Ramon, however, observed that the striking health workers had been enjoying incentives which doctors were normally deprived of any time they embarked on strike.
“It is ironic that the striking JOHESU workers have been receiving incentives to continue their strike because they were paid December salaries well ahead of Christmas, while doctors in LUTH have not been paid.
“Perhaps, more perplexing is the fact that doctors in the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, have not received their November and December salaries.
“This unpalatable scenario is what is happening in other centres across the country. We see this paradox of no work with pay for JOHESU members, but work without pay for doctors as a grievous injustice,” he said.
Ramon appealed to the striking health workers to call off their strike for the sake of the wellbeing of Nigerians.
He urged the federal government to decisively tackle the challenges facing the nation’s health sector to end the serial and unnecessary disruption of health services in public owned hospitals.
But reacting to the development, Mr Omoba Femi-Daini, Chairman, JOHESU Lagos state chapter, urged the government to comply with the agreement with the union to enable members resume work.
According to him, the ongoing strike by JOHESU members was causing a lot of discomfort to many Nigerians.
Femi-Daini said: `The issue between JOHESU and the government has been on for many years now.
“Series of meetings were held to press home some demands that affect the welfare of health workers in Nigeria as a whole. Part of the demands are better conditions of service and consultancy status for other health workers.
“The union held over 11 meetings. Even when the doctors went on strike, the union did not go. It shows that we have been sensitive and patient.
“We also have the implementation of certain issues that went as far as the Nigeria Industrial Court (NIC). At the end of the day, the NIC ruled in favour of other health workers.
“After bargaining, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the government and the union, a court ruling came and the government was yet to implement.
“However, government’s stance towards not implementing all these issues on the MoU sums up to insensitivity on their part.
“Our patience has run out and we had to call out our members from work. People are affected. Lives are affected too and yet the government is not even bothered.
“The losses as a result of this strike is not to the benefit of anybody.
“We feel it, but when you have a government that is not listening, a government that will pretend that all things are normal, what else do you want us to do?
“We want to appeal to well-meaning Nigerians to appeal to government to honour the agreement signed with the union,’’ urged the union leader.
The chairman said that health work was a collaborative effort of all players in the field, and as such there should be unison in the discharge of duties.
“Health work is a collaborative work. For example, without an attendant, the doctor won’t sit in the hospital. The laboratory person does his job and the nurse does her own job.
“Someone is responsible for the disposal of the dead. The doctor’s job ends when a person passes on. So, it is a team work.
“We all know our hierarchy that does not mean that someone is not the leader. Someone has to coordinate.
“So, people are suffering in a healthcare sector and system that is decaying every now and then.
“We need our government to take a critical and objective look towards reforming the sector and motivating the workers,’’ he said.
Femi-Daini also noted that two out of the 10 circulars demanded by JOHESU has been released, but that top management of JOHESU was yet to receive it.
A community pharmacist, Mrs Agnes Okafor, said that although the ongoing health workers strike had left people with fewer options for quality medical services, the patronage to the pharmacy was relatively the same.
According to her, this is as a result of poverty and economic hardship that pervades the society.
“As community pharmacists, we play a crucial role in healthcare delivery, however, we cannot make diagnosis but we can answer many questions and provide counselling to people.
“Since the commencement of the strike, when we advise some who come to go to the hospital you can see the state of helplessness because many cannot afford the services of private hospitals.
“Many have resolved to alternative and traditional medicine while some are addicted to self-medicating,’’ she said.
She appealed for a quick resolution of the conflicts in the health sector to save the lives of Nigerians.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians are calling on both parties to amicably resolve the issues that resulted to the strike, in order to reduce the burden faced by many patients receiving medical care at hospitals.
Dr Osahon Enabulele, the Vice-President, Commonwealth Medical Association, West African Region, urged the federal government to look into the report of the Yayale Ahmed committee in order to resolve the unwholesome rivalry among healthcare professionals.
According to him, it would put an end to incessant strikes by health professionals in the country which is negatively affecting the health of Nigerians.
Dr Tope Ojo, Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos state chapter, said that the ongoing strike by federal health workers, including those in Lagos state, had paralysed federal hospitals and health centres across the country.
“The federal government should endeavour to keep to its agreements with different bodies so as to prevent strikes in the health sector,’’ he said.
Dr Olusegun Akinwotu, the Vice-Chairman, Lagos state chapter of the NMA, also urged the striking health workers to return to dialogue with the federal government.
“The federal government was negotiating with them before they started the strike.
“Government is still having an open channel for them to continue their discussions so that they can actually resolve whatever demands on the negotiation table.
“So, it is important that those channels are explored. We believe that patients’ care is paramount at this point.
“They have their demands, they know their demands. One cannot say they shouldn’t go on strike, but it should be within the confines of reasonable demands,’’ he said.
Prof. Oyewale Tomori, President of the Nigerian Science Academy, said that the “power tussle” among the different professional bodies constitutes a major setback to the health sector.
Tomori said that the rivalry, which caused incessant strikes in the sector, had affected healthcare delivery in the country.
“Unless they deal with the disrespect they mutually have for each other, the devastation to be suffered in the health sector will be worse than what the Ebola virus is currently causing in West Africa.’’
He appealed to the striking health workers in the country to call off their nationwide strike in the interest of all Nigerians.
Mrs Mabel Okafor, a patient billed for surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, urged the federal government to accede to the demands of the workers so that health services would be delivered to people who needed them.
“It is unfortunate that the poor people in the society are the ones suffering as many cannot afford to visit private hospitals.
“There should be a way of addressing issues so that strike will be averted for the benefit of Nigerians who need medical attention,’’ Okafor said.
Mr Niyi Adebomi advised that a critical look be taken as regards the country’s health sector.
“Our health system is in shambles. I lost my wife during this period as a result of many lapses and inefficiencies in our health care delivery.
“It is sad. A friend also lost the wife. I appeal to the government and health workers to reach a positive agreement.
“If we do not address and sanitise these issues now, more terrible things will still come out of this insane healthcare sector,’’ he said.
Mrs Bose Okusanya, a patient at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, said that she had been visiting the private hospital since the strike began.
She urged the government to invest more in the health sector so that incessant strikes would be reduced.
“If the government invests more funds into the health sector, there will not be strike and people will get the services they need.
“The health of Nigerians should be paramount as healthy people will mean improved productivity, economy and the country as a whole,’’ she said.
Meanwhile, the Supervising Minister of Health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan, has appealed to the striking health workers to resume duty as government as addressing their grievances.
Alhassan told newsmen in Abuja that an effective inter-ministerial and departmental collaboration was needed to resolve the demands of the workers.
According to him, the ministries of health, labour and productivity and finance as well as salaries and wages commission and the offices of the head of civil service and secretary to the government of the federation were required to address the issues. (NAN)
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