Authorities of the National Hospital, Abuja, have said that they are being forced to discharge patients who are on admission due to the 7-day warning strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU.
This is the challenge at Federal Government-owned hospitals across the country that are finding it difficult to cope with the reduction in manpower even though doctors and other personnel are on duty.
It is a season of strikes in the country’s health sector. In less than a week of resident doctors embarking on an indefinite strike which was called off after four days, medical services in hospitals are crippled due to industrial action by health workers.
Midnight Sunday, September 13, the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, asked its members to down tools following its inconclusive meeting with the Federal Government, over its demands, including the need to fix structural and infrastructural decay, payment of hazard and inducement allowances, among others.
A visit to the National Hospital on day one of the industrial action shows an unusually empty facility with no patients around the clinic
The spokesperson of the hospital, Dr. Tayo Haastrup, said the situation is about to get worse as they will be forced to stop at a certain level in attending to patients
The JOHESU is the umbrella body of health workers’ unions and associations, including the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, and National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives.
Others are Non-Academic Staff of Educational and Associated Institutions, and the Senior Staff Association of Universit