Strike hits LUTH

Healthcare services at
the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)
on Thursday remained paralysed, as the strike
by the Joint House Unions and Associations
(JHUA) of the hospital entered its 11th day.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
JHUA comprises the Medical and Health
Workers Union (MWHUN) and the Senior Staff
Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals,
Research and Allied Institutes (SSAUTHRAI).
Other associations involved in the strike are the
Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and
National Association of Nigeria Nurses and
Midwives (NANNM).
The health workers have come together under
the aegis of JHUA, to enable them to address
common problems and demand for better
welfare.
Mr Kehinde Adegoke, the Chairman,
SSAUTHRAI, LUTH chapter, told NAN that the
hospital management had failed to meet many
of the demands of the group.
“We have given various notices, and we have
had meetings with promise upon promise being
made but they have all remained in the realm
of promises.
“One of our problems is the issue of overtime;
the chief executive had said that he was not
approving any more overtime.
“Meanwhile, workers had already done three
months without being paid.
“Some people got one month, some got two,
some got three, because the director of staff
administration stopped collecting overtime
schedules,” he said.
Adegoke said that other grievances include
nonpayment of salary increment, refusal to
promote officers, and lack of promotion for
certain members of staff who met the
requirements.
He said that among the nurses, 89 people went
for the last promotion and only 10 were actually
promoted.
“The nurses are overworked because of the
inadequate manpower; in the wards, we have a
ratio of 1:16 attending to patients, which ideally
ought to be 1:4.
“It is regrettable but we have come to a point
where strike seems to be the only language they
understand.
“If they had met 50 to 60 per cent of our
requests, things would not have reached this
stage.
“These issues are not new, JHUA has been
pursuing some of them for about three to four
years,” he said.
Meanwhile some patients seen in the hospital
expressed displeasure over the incessant strikes
in the hospital, over the past year.
A NAN check revealed that some nurses and
other health workers were, however, seen
rendering skeletal services to people in
intensive care units, and also to those who were
in need of blood transfusion.
However, the out-patients department, which is
usually besieged by a lot people, was rather
deserted.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof.
Akin Oshibogun, in an interview with NAN,
appealed to the striking health workers to re-
open negotiations with the management and
consider the health of the patients.
“We have met most of their demands; the only
one left is the promotion issue.
“However, promotion is reserved for only those
eligible and subject to vacancies, so there is not
much we can do about it,” he said. [NAN]