Strike grounds federal hospitals, JOHESU says Health Minister insincere

The nationwide strike called by the health workers’ union has taken a toll on federal health institutions across Nigeria and patients have been at the receiving end.
Visits to some of the affected hospitals in the country on Friday, showed either skeletal work or a total collapse of activities.
For instance, business activities were grounded at the National Hospital, Abuja, on Friday, following the nationwide strike declared by the Joint Health Workers Union.
The development came as JOHESU accused the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu of insincerity.
The Minister stated that the Federal Government had appealed the ruling of Justice Babatunde Adejumo of the National Industrial Court on the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding, signed by government and the workers.

Investigations revealed that staff of NH complied with the strike and refused to go to work.
A source in the Hospital, however, told  our  correspondent that “some nurses were kept on standby in the Accident and Emergency Department in the interest of patients.”
The Spokesperson of NH, Dr. Tayo Haastrup, told Saturday PUNCH that arrangements had been made to take care of patients.
He said, “We have a reasonable number of patients that have not been discharged. Our doctors are working and they are managing them. The foreign doctors, House Officers, NYSC members are at work and interns are working.”
The Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba and the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-metta, are two of the four major federal hospitals in Lagos that are affected.
The affected workers include nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technologists and other health workers, except medical doctors.

PUNCH