The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Joint Health Sector Unions

  • Workers reject Fed Govt‘s move to privatise public health institutions

    The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has rejected moves by the Federal Government to privatise public health institutions.

    Its National Chairman, Comrade Joy Bioblemoye, said at a rally against happenings in the sector at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja National Hospital and Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, that privatisation was not the answer to the problems.

    He noted that the challenges facing the sector included corruption and lack of fair management in the system.

    The rally, he said, was to express displeasure over the health sector workers’ plight. He accused the Federal Ministry of Health of withholding workers’ salaries for last April and May.

    The workers, he said, would shut  down the sector, if nothing happens after the rally.

    Calling for President Muhammadu Buhari‘s intervention in the matter, Bioblemoye said over 90 per cent of Chief Medical Directors of public institutions have private hospitals.

    Such practice, he said, led to the rot in the system because of clash of interests.

    According to him, the rally was to sensitise the public and government that workers are not strike mongers.

    “We want the Ministry of Health to respect court order and release our salaries for April and May.

    “While the court asked both parties not to do anything that could jeopardise the peace process, the ministry went ahead to implement the ‘no work no pay policy’.”

     

  • Health workers threaten indefinite strike

    Health workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions have threatened to shut down the nation’s hospitals if the government fails to address their demands.

    This is coming eight months after suspension of their strike action for final resolution of issues without concrete actions from government.

    The government had, in April 2018 invoked the no- work- no- rule policy to deny striking health workers their two months salaries for embarking on strike for implementation of their agreement with the government.

    The Minister of Health claimed there was no agreement between the union and government then.

    However, the National Industrial Court, sitting in Abuja stepped into the issue for arbitration, asking all parties to maintain status quo ante.

    Read Also: Exams at OAU despite ASUU strike

    In a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, the union said it will resume the suspended strike if the issues in dispute were not resolved by Thursday, 31st January, 2019.

    JOHESU chairman, Biobelemoye Josiah, said the decision to issue a 15- day ultimatum was in view of the apparent indifference of government to permanently resolve lingering issues

    The health workers insisted that some of the issues have persisted for over five years, pointing out even though the court has asked for a return to status quo ante during the last industrial action, government has gone ahead to implement the no work, no pay policy.

    Some of the issues at stake are the upward adjustment of the consolidated Health salary structure, CONHESS, unjustified withholding of the salaries of JOHESU members for the months of April and May, 2018 and headship of hospital departments.

    Others are non -promotion of members on CONHESS 14 – 15 as Directors in some Federal Health Institutions and implementation of Consultancy Cadre to JOHESU members.

  • Non-medics reject Yayale committee’s recommendations

    Stakeholders, under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA), have rejected the Yayale Ahmed Presidential Committee of Experts on Professional Relationships in the Public Health Sector (YAPCEPRPH).

    The associations, which constitute about 95 percent of workers in the  sector, in a statement, said the recommendations were biased.

    The statement was signed by National MHWUN President, Biobelemoye Josiah; NANNM National President, SSAUTHRIAI President, Comrade Adeniji A. A.; Comrade B. A. Akintola; NUAHP National President, Dr Ogbonna O.C.; NASU National President, Comrade Christ Ani; AHPA President, Dr G. C. Okara.

    Others who signed were MHWUN Secretary-General, Comrade Silas Adamu; NANNM Secretary-General, Comrade Shettima Thomas; SSAUTHRIAI General Secretary, Comrade M. O. Akinade; NUAHP General Secretary, Comrade O. A. Obisesan; and NASU General Secretary, Comrade Peters Adeyemi.

    According to the associations, the report was not in the interets of their members.

    “We strongly demand this report, which is not in tune with national development and interest be immediately withdrawn for public good and the future of the health sector as it is certainly not a positive reference point in the quest for international best practices,” they warned.

    The non-medics claimed that the committee was influenced by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). “Nothing gives insight to this better than the phraseologies, which perennially referred to doctors as ‘Leaders of the Health Team’, while other health professionals were favouritely dubbed, ‘Allied Health Professionals,’’ the groups said.

    The groups identified other contentious areas in the report to include the recommendation for the establishment of the office of Chief of Medical Adviser to Mr. President; regulation of all health professionals through the Healthcare Commission to replace the 15 regulatory agencies, which are products of the Acts of parliament as Section 315 of the constitution,  thereby taking away the statutory responsibilities of the regulatory agencies in the sector.

    They also said the committee did not address the laws that provide that only medically qualified persons could be appointed as heads of federal health institutions, which over time the Federal Government, in conjunction with NMA, has interpreted as only doctors.

    “Rather, craftily the Yayale Ahmed Presidential Committee of Experts on Professional Relationships in the Public Health Sector (YAPCEPRPH) relied on the ancient perception known to only our clime that doctors are the sole cadre of staff who are medically qualified and so should continue to head federal health institutions.

    ‘’Appointment of Chairman, Medical Advisory committee (CMAC), Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (D-CMAC), consultancy cadre for eligible health professionals, and  composition of boards of management for federal health institutions is not addressed as well,” they lamented.

    JOHESU and APHA said they were surprised that the Committee was opposed to the appointment of other health professionals as directors in federal health institutions.

    They said the report only favoured NMA members, saying that is why it approved the post-graduate colleges for ‘allied’ health professionals to the clinical needs of the institutions in the approved areas of professional practice.

    They berated the report for saying that post-graduate colleges should ‘not just be for acquisition of additional qualifications unrelated to professional specialty’, adding it failed to boost confidence.

     

  • JOHESU Strike: National industrial court takes over mediation

    Strike may be suspended Friday

     

    The National Industrial Court has taken over mediation in the dispute between the Federal Ministry of Health and striking Health workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions with a view to ensuring an amicable settlement of the dispute.

    The Presiding Judge of the court, however asked the striking health workers to first go and obey the earlier ruling of the court by returning to work, while the process of mediation will resume.

    However, JOHESU has asked the court to give it till Friday, June 1, 2018 to met with their members and inform them of the decision of the court.

    An NGO, the Incorporated Trustees of the Kingdom Human Rights Foundation, KHRFI, had obtained a court order against JOHESU; mandating the health workers to suspend their industrial action on the 21st of May, 2018.

    Read Also: Activists call on JOHESU to obey court order

    The NGO had also filed a contempt proceeding against JOHESU which was to be decided on Wednesday, but the judge ruled that in the interest of the suffering Nigerian masses who need medical services, he would refer the case to the Alternative Dispute Resolution division of the court to mediate.

    He directed that the Minister of Labour and Employment and the Minister of Health should appoint representation to the ADR team who will mediate and ensure an amicable resolution.

    At the time of this report, the leadership of JOHESU were meeting to decide on the next line of action, but there are indications that the ongoing strike may be suspended to give the National Industrial Court the chance to mediate.

  • FG moves to sack over 750,000 striking Health workers

    The Federal government has began moves to dismiss from service about 750,000 striking members of the Joint Health Sector Unions as it has directed Governing Boards of all government owned hospitals to invoke the provisions of Public Service Rule 030413 on the workers for failing to report to duty.

    The government has also directed the Governing Boards to restore services in their various hospitals with immediate effect, saying nobody has the right to shut down any government hospital.

    The Nation gathered that the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole gave the directive at an emergency meeting with Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of all government owned hospitals and their Governing boards.

    The public service rule 030413 reads: “Any officer who absents himself/herself from duty or travels out from Nigeria without leave renders himself/herself liable to be dismissed from service and the onus shall rest on him/her to show that the circumstances do not justify the position of the full penalty”.

    The public service rule consider the action referred to by the Minister as serious misconduct which can lead to dismissal from service if proven.

    Public service rule 030401 said “serious misconduct is a specific act of very serious wrong doing and improper behaviors which is inimical to the image of the public service and which can be investigated and if proven, ma6 lead to dismissal”.

    Sources told The Nation that the government may also be working toward proscribing the Joint Health Sector Unions made up of five allied professional unions which constitute about 98 percent of staff of the hospitals.

    The Health Minister was said to have told the Governing boards that anyone who fails to resume work should be be considered to have absconded from duty without leave which is a serious misconduct in line with the Public Service rule 030413.

    Read Also: Health workers strike: JOHESU accuses doctors of sabotage

    However, Mrs. Boade Akinola, Director, Media and Public Relations in the Ministry of Health, quote the minister as saying that Chief executive not willing to keep the services running should be suspended and be replaced with another officer in acting capacity.

    The statement said the Minister’s directive was given at an emergency meeting with the CMDs/MDs of tertiary hospitals, on Monday 28th May, 2018, where the impact of the ongoing strike on health services in government hospitals was reviewed.

    The Minister added that anyone who fails to resume would be considered to have absconded from duty without leave which is a serious misconduct in line with the Public Service rule 030413.

    He noted that Monitoring teams were dispatched to the Tertiary Hospitals to access the activities in various hospitals and reports were presented at the meeting and this revealed that some hospitals were doing well in providing care to the people while others have performed below expectation.

    The Minister commended the facilities that are offering full services using locum Staff and volunteers and directed immediate restoration of full services in all the other facilities. He singled out facilities in North East, North West and South- South zones for outstanding performance.

    He said that there was no reason why each hospital should not have one ward per speciality open for operation. He said one gynaecology ward, one obstetrics ward, one paediatric ward, one surgical ward and one medical ward, should be kept functioning immediately in facilities that are yet to do so.

    He said “the clinics must run, theatre must be opened, there is no reason why they should lock your theatre. No one has the right to lock up government hospitals” the Minister said.

    Adewole maintained that everyone who participated in the strike would not be paid for the period of the strike even if the strike is called off.

    “We want you to go back and restore services in your various institutions immediately”.

    The Minister urged Chairmen of the Boards to take charge of their facilities and that any  Chief executive not willing to keep the services running, should be suspended and be replaced with another officer in acting capacity.

    Speaking on the strike, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said he has been restraining the Ministry of Health from engaging advocates staff to fill the vacancies created by the strike, pointing out that he may not be able to restrain them for too long.

    Ngige said “they are on essential services and ILO has conditionalities for workers on essential services. They are not supposed to go on strike. ILO also has provision which states that if workers on essential services go on strike, the employer must be protected. They are allowed to deny them payment for the period they are away and employ advocates staff to fill the vacancies. I have pleaded and pleaded.

    “They know these laws because they are very vast. We have been begging. These people in JOHESU are Nigerians. If we terminate their appointment and ask new employees to come, you will see over one million applications to fill those vacancies because there are qualified Nigerians outside there.

    “But I have restrained the Health Ministry for sometime now. I don’t even know for how long I can restrain them. In doing my restrain, I am guided by the fact that I know that the doctors alone cannot handle the health services. I know that because I am a doctor.

    “I also know that the doctors are not conducting themselves in a very dignified way in this negotiation. who should they be putting their mouth and interloping? It is in the Labour laws that they should not interfere in what is happening to another union. This is the situation with JOHESU and the ongoing strike.”

  • Strike: FG cautions JOHESU members

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has cautioned that striking Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) have no constitutional right to harass other health workers not on strike or lock government facilities.

    The minister gave the caution in a statement issued by Mr Oshundun Olajide, Deputy Director, Media and Public Relations of the ministry, on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Olajide said the minister said this while reacting to a news briefing by the President, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr Ugochukwu Chinaka.

    He noted that the resident doctors accused JOHESU members of harassing and molesting members of NARD and other medical officers at their respective duty posts.

    According to the statement, the minister was also informed that JOHESU members were accused of locking-up government health facilities to prevent access to those who are not on strike.

    Olajide also quoted the minister as saying that the federal government would not accept nor condone any act of irresponsibility and disobedience to constituted authorities.

    The minister also directed that all locked health facilities should be re-opened immediately to enable them provide required services while negotiation continues.

    It added that Adewole re-iterated that all heads of medical institutions should urgently provide adequate security for the working members of staff.

    It warned that any person found disturbing the peace in any health facility should be made to face the law.

    Recalls that the First Vice President of NARD, Dr Ganiyu Ahmed, had earlier accused JOHESU members of becoming increasingly aggressive towards other health professional particularly doctors, who are not on strike.

    Ahmed told newsmen on April 28 that JOHESU members at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Awka, manhandled a resident doctor on duty.

  • Lagos pharmacists blame govt for JOHESU strike

    The Lagos Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has blamed the Federal Government for the ongoing Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) strike.

    It said the union’s clamour for better welfare package had been mismanaged by the government.

    According to the society’s Chairman, Mrs Bolanle Adeniran, at a briefing in Lagos, the root of the strike is the desire for more benefits and privileges.

    Mrs Adeniran, who spoke on: “Redressing the on-going strike of Health workers in Nigeria”, explained that it was important to   understand the cause of agitation.

    He said: “Contrary to the superiority mentality created in some quartres, pharmacists and doctors entered the public service on the same grade level up till 1991. In Nigeria, pharmacists started on GL 08 step 2, while doctors entered on GL 08 step 3 because of the one year difference in their training. After the mandatory one year youth service, pharmacists proceeded to GL 09 step 2 and doctor GL 09 step 3.

    “This was the pattern till the Olikoye-Kuti leadership in the Federal Ministry of Health got the military administration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida to approve the Medical Salary Scale (MSS), a discriminatory salary wage in favour of medical doctors in public service.

    ‘’The MSS obviously disrupted the equilibrium of public sector wages as it became the basis for other sectoral players’ request for exclusive wages in the health sector after the MSS was introduced, the Health Salary Scale was introduced for health workers apart from doctors.”

    Mrs Adeniran added that contrary to the impression created by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in a recent press statement that the basis of the strike is that other health workers sought to earn equal pay with them, the truth is that workers sought an adjustment in their salary scale like it was done with CONMESS scale to ensure parity in the CONHESS and CONMESS scale, which was a fundamental agreement couched in the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Federal Ministry of Health by stakeholders in the sector.

    “It is extremely important we put on record at this junction, that after the tinkering of hitherto existing public sector wage structure in 1991, the salaries of pharmacists and doctors was distorted significantly, such that doctors began to enjoy an extremely significant difference in wages with at least one full grade level difference without any change in the duration of training which remains five years for pharmacists and six years for doctors’’ she said.

  • Senior workers caution govt on strike

    The Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institute and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Teaching/Specialist Hospitals/Federal Medical Centres Sector has urged the Federal Government to honour its agreement with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) as a lasting solution to the  to industrial strike called by the later.

    This is contained in a communiqué issued by the body at the end of its two-day meeting at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos.

    The Council noted that the Federal Government’s unwillingness to implement the agreement reached with JOHESU led to the strike.

    The communiqué, signed by the Ag. Sector Chairman, Comrade E. O. Popoola and Sector Secretary, Comrade Ademola Olajire stated that the Federal Government is yet to approve or circularise the upward adjustment of CONHESS Salary Scale as contained in the memorandum of Terms of Settlement signed on September 30, last year.

    According to the communiqué, though the five-week timeline has elapsed and it is more than six months now and still counting, it should be noted that little or nothing has been done between last year and now. “The apparent lack of desire on the part of government to redress all the issues is leading to a looming, but avoidable industrial action. The council, therefore, calls on the government as a matter of urgency to release the adjusted CONHESS salary table and implement same immediately,”the communiqué stated.

    The body noted the poor state of hospital equipment and the unavailability of modern equipment and obsoleteness of existing ones, adding that many of them are mere gigantic structures lacking required cutting edge technologies for research, training and healthcare delivery.

    “This is about the biggest issue with the healthcare system and it is responsible for why medical tourism remain the only option for affluent Nigerians or patients in dire need of the right diagnosis/cure. It is common place to trace the root causes of most of the wrong diagnoses to lack of the right equipment or the faulty nature of existing ones. We demand the purchase of modern medical equipment in our various health institutions and training of health professionals to handle the equipment, in order to stem the tide of medical tourism and make health care services available and affordable to all Nigerians,” the communiqué stated.

    The body equally decried the shortage of personnel in various health institutions, adding that with  lack of enabling working conditions, poor remunerations, and lack of motivation, among other reasons, led to inadequate manpower in the health sector.

    It further explained that “the effects of health worker shortage have given rise to excessive lengthy queues, abnormal waiting times, and patient dissatisfaction at the various hospitals. This is a pointer that all is not well with our health care system. We, therefore, call on the Federal Government to employ adequate hands into our health facilities to prevent imminent collapse.”

  • JOHESU Strike: Health workers accuses Adewole, Ngige of bias

    Health workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has accused the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole and his Labour and Employment counterpart, Senator Chris Ngige of collaborating with Medical Doctors to frustrate their demands and make the Health Sector more viable and worker friendly.

    The workers who began an indefinite strike action on Tuesday night also accused the government of intimidating its members by threatening to invoke the no work no pay Policy as well as opening an attendance register for workers instead of addressing the issues that led to the strike in the first place.

    They said that no amount of threat and intimidation will force the, to abandon their fight for equity and justice in the health sector.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja on the ongoing strike and government response, national chairman of the JOHESU, Biobelemoye Joy Josiah said while government has always promptly dealt with demands by medical doctors, applying Labour laws even when the NMA and the NARD were not registered trade unions, the government has resorted to threats and intimidation in handling issues relating to other health workers.

    He said this was so because both the Ministers of Health as well as Labour and Employment who is supposed to be an arbiter are medical doctors, adding that government and medical doctors have gone into what he described as an unholy alliance to fight against other medical workers.

    He said “the attention of the Joint Health Sector Unions has been drawn to a circular letter from the Federal Ministry of Health on the ongoing strike by JOHESU members and wish to once again to intimate the general public to bias, I justice and provocative antics of the federal ministry of health, particular items 1(iv, v) and 3 of the said letter directing that attendance register is opened during strike, enforcement of no work, no pay Policy and employment of locus staff respectively.

    “While JOHESU is not averse to the protection of government t properties, we wish to reiterate that whenever the Medical and dental practitioners were on strike, no such rules as churned out in the circular are always given.

    “We wish to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the general public to the discriminatory, suppressive and oppressive attitude of the drivers of the Health Sector to all workers other than medical doctors in managing health care delivery in Nigeria.

    “It is in record that patients are always hurriedly discharged and diverted to their private clinics whenever medical doctors are on strike and thereby preventing other health workers from performing their duties and nothing like locus, doctors employed to serve the public, nor registers opened to enforce co plain English while the policy of no work no pay has never been applied to the strike mangers who call themselves medical doctors.

    “Our attention has equally been drawn to an egoistic and self-serving press conference by the leadership of the Niger Medical Association (NMA) where they branded JOHESU An illegal body which should not be listened to by government t and the general public.

    “It is wed foolhardy doe NMA to go to town with such fallacy when JOHESU, a conglomerate of five duly registered and recognized trade unions by law and has all rights and privileges to Kate for the welfare of its ,embers, is being described as illegal. It is the case of a blind group of people who know nothing about trade unions and industrial relations practice, that wants to mislead the public on which is a legal or illegal trade union.

    “While these unions have right to go on strike collectively or separately, the NMA and ARD have no such rights but they behave as trade unions and enjoy recognition and patronage of the federal ministry of health and sit with government to negotiate for their members under the watchful eyes of the federal ministry of Labour and Employment just because the Minister of Labour who should be an arbiter but choose to close his eyes to such illegality is himself a medical doctor.

    “We call on our members nationwide to disregard all forms of threat or intimidation from government and ensure that services are withdrawn until our demands are met. We call on government to ensure equity and justice in the health sector instead of putting the health of Nigerians in jeopardy by resolving the issues on the the table rather than churning out threatening circulars on registers, Locum and no work no pay that have no universal application as a diversionary tactics.”

    “We want the public to know that what is playing out appears to be a situation NMA and ARD on the one hand and government in the other has gone into an unholy alliance to fight against health workers right, even in a situation where doctors and other health workers remain the employees of the same government.

    “We implore government to make every effort to make the strike short lived in the interest of the poor and vulnerable Nigerians and not engage in activities that will further infuriate health workers and exacerbate an already bad situation.”

  • Another avoidable strike

    Nigeria’s beleaguered health sector seems set for another indeterminate period of forced and painful paralysis as the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) directed its members in all federal health institutions across the country to commence an indefinite strike as from midnight on Tuesday. The negative implications of this strike for large numbers of Nigerians seeking medical attention will certainly be severe given the range of health professionals involved. Member unions of JOHESU include the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNMW), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) as well as Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutes (NASU).

    That the contentious issues were not resolved and the strike ultimatum given by the workers averted does not suggest to us sufficient seriousness, diligence and commitment particularly on the part of government. JOHESU had called off a nationwide strike on September 30, 2017, following the signing of a memorandum of terms of settlement between the union and the Federal Government.

    Details of the pact mutually entered into by the parties included upward adjustment of the Consolidated Health Employees Salary Structure (CONHESS), payment of agreed CONHESS promotion arrears, employment of additional health professionals, implementation of specified court judgments as well as upward review of retirement age from 60 to 65 years. The agreements were reportedly to be implemented within five weeks.

    It is difficult to blame JOHESU if its members became restive when the government was yet to act on the agreement six months after the suspension of its strike. The union thus understandably gave a 21-day notice of the intention to resume its strike if the memorandum of terms of settlement remained comatose. On the expiration of this deadline, JOHESU, on March 5, 2018, alerted the Federal Government of its intention to commence another nationwide strike if its demands remained unmet after an additional 30 working days. There was thus sufficient time for action to have been taken by the relevant authorities to render the strike unnecessary.

    We cannot discount the possibility that government genuinely does not have the resources to implement the agreement reached with JOHESU. In that case, it should simply have transparently put all its cards on the table while giving the general public adequate information on the issues involved. Being truthful with the unions as regards its capacity or otherwise to meet their demands enhances the credibility of government far better than hastily signing agreements that it is fiscally incapacitated to actualise. But then, given the well-known scandalous level of waste and looting of public resources by those in positions of authority, it is virtually impossible for government to convince aggrieved labour unions that it does not have the resources to meet their demands.

    Dissociating doctors and dentists from the strike that it perceives as being targeted at its members, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), described JOHESU as an illegal body and warned government against acceding to the body’s demands. This disharmony among critical health professionals is indicative of the utter disarray in the country’s health sector and the need for holistic and far reaching measures to address its challenges, particularly those of staff welfare and adequate facilities.

    Unfortunately, our complacent elite who have the means to access the best medical care across the world cannot be expected to give a damn about the pathetic state of healthcare in the country. It is the millions of ordinary Nigerians that bear the brunt. And it is for the sake of these helpless citizens who cannot hop on the next flight for medical care abroad, that we urge the health authorities to put on their thinking caps and resolve this dispute expeditiously.