The management of the Federal University of Technology Akure Teaching Hospital (FUTATH), Akure, Ondo State, has dismissed allegations levelled against it by the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), describing the union’s industrial action as unnecessary and avoidable amid ongoing dialogue.

According to the management, the issues raised by the union were misrepresented in a manner capable of creating tension within the hospital community and among members of the public.

The teaching hospital’s position was coming on the heels of the directive issued by the NUAHP, instructing its members to withdraw services from the facility over grievances bordering on organogram restructuring and the appointment of two deputy chairmen of the Medical Advisory Committee.

According to a statement signed by the Head, Public Relations Unit of the hospital, Tope Fayehun, following the transfer of the facility to the Federal Government, management developed an organogram consistent with operational structures obtainable in standard federal teaching hospitals across the country.

Fayehun disclosed that the objective of the restructuring was to ensure administrative efficiency, professional harmony, and improved healthcare service delivery in line with global best practices.

While emphasising that management had at no time acted outside the provisions of extant public service rules, legal statutes, or approved schemes of service, the medical institution stressed that the administrative adjustments were designed to strengthen institutional coordination and ensure effective service delivery across all professional departments and units within the hospital.

The statement read in parts: “It is important to emphasise that after several meetings and deliberations, management and the union jointly reached 23 resolutions based on the approved scheme of service for medical laboratory scientists.

“Management also assured all professionals working within the four pathology departments that there would be mutual respect, collaboration, and professional harmony without discrimination or rivalry.

“Surprisingly, despite these assurances and agreements, the union resurrected its demand for the creation of a separate Department of Medical Laboratory Services outside the operational structure obtainable in most federal teaching hospitals across the country.”