The University College Hospital, Ibadan, has
stopped admitting new patients as the effect
of strike embarked upon by the Nigerian
Union of Allied Health Professionals
nationwide and the hospital’s resident
doctors takes its toll on the hospital.
NUAHP began its strike on Monday after the
seven-day ultimatum it issued to the Federal
Government expired while the resident
doctors have been on strike for three weeks.
When our correspondent visited the hospital
on Tuesday, he observed that pharmacists,
physiotherapists, medical laboratory
scientists, radiographers, dieticians, dental
technologists, optometrists, clinical
psychologists, medical social workers and all
other health professionals, except some
doctors and nurses, were not rendering
medical services to patients.
Efforts to reach the hospital’s Chief Medical
Director, Temitope Alonge, failed as he was
said to be in a meeting but a source in the
hospital, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because she was not authorised to
speak for the hospital, said Internally
Generated Revenue had dropped considerably
and that the wards were becoming empty.
“With the two strikes coming at the same
time, we cannot admit patients and what this
means is that the hospital IGR has dropped.
Clinical services have been shut down and
medical students’ training cannot go on.
Research work has also suffered. There is no
consultant that can work effectively because
what we now have are nurses and
administrative workers,” she said.
Chairman of UCH branch of NUAHP, Olusegun
Sotiloye, told our correspondent on Tuesday
that before taking the decision, several
attempts to discuss the situation with the
Minister of Health failed.
Sotiloye said, “We gave the Federal
Government a seven-day ultimatum from May
11, 2015. It expired last Sunday, which
necessitated the nationwide strike embarked
upon by union on Monday.
“What we decided is that we will observe sit
down approach in the first week. Our
members will be coming to work but they will
not render any service except when there is
an emergency. If we do not get FG’s
attention, we will begin full scale strike in the
second week.
“Before we went on strike, we tried to reach
out to the Minister of Health but he said he
was out of the country and that he would
mandate the Minister of State for Health and
the ministry’s permanent secretary to do
something but that is all we got. None of
them called back till now.”
The union, among other demands, wants the
promotion of its members, who have spent 15
years on CONHESS 14 and designate the
most senior one as a director or head of
department.
It also wants members to be appointed Chief
Medical Directors of various tertiary hospitals
rather than reserving it for medical doctors.
source: The punch

The problems in the health sector ain't going away soon, as long as the government continues to run the sector the way it is. www.nairaland.com/2013336/health-sector-strikes-underlying-issues