JUTH on lockdown, as strike enters second month

Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), in Lamingo area at the eastern part of Jos Metropolis, has been on total lockdown for over a month following the industrial action by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) of the hospital.

Since July 6, 2015, activities in the hospital have been grounded to a halt. Visiting the hospital for first-hand information, following the industrial disharmony, the usual beehive of health services in the hospital has vanished.

Though, before the strike action, it was gathered that consultants were at hand to attend to some emergency health cases at the hospital.

A student doctor, who spoke on ground of anonymity said: “Our efforts as student doctors to salvage any health situation especially emergencies in this hospital before the indefinite strike cannot be of much impact as long as Resident Doctors are not on duties.

“To compound the problems, all departments of health services in the hospital have finally been stopped. As a result of the development, most patients have been transferred out and others are not coming in because the Resident Doctors and all other health unions are on indefinite strike.”

Dr. Joseph Innocent Nankat, President of ARD in the hospital, in an interview affirmed that there is industrial disharmony in JUTH and the Resident Doctors have been on strike since 10th June 2015.

On the reason for the strike, Nankat recalled that from first July to 28th of August 2014, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) called out for a strike. He said the issues of the strike were categorized into 24 – point demand, which was briefly summarized into three main issues which includes Universal Health Insurance coverage and improvement of health care system in Nigeria, the issues of clinical governance which demands that doctors are the head of healthcare delivery system and the third is about the welfare of doctors, which concerns correct emoluments to be paid to them.

He said that the Federal Government had attended to the three basic demands of the doctors and made financial provision backed by directive through circular to the NMA and all hospitals for its implementation but the management of JUTH has refused to implement even as federal government issued a circular for full implementation of correct emoluments to resident doctors.

According to him, the Federal Government backed the agreement with the NMA and directed various hospitals to implement the correct emoluments for their doctors.

He said most hospitals have heeded to the Federal Government’s directive, which was captured in the circular and implemented their resident doctors’ correct emoluments but lamented that the case of JUTH is quite unusual because the non – doctors have their full salary structures paid to them while the management has refused to pay the doctors the new correct salaries.

Nankat said that the second issue in JUTH, which the doctors have talked to the management overtime is about lack of basic drugs and other medically required working tools/equipment which are often needed in case of emergencies during day time or at night but are grossly lacking in the hospital.

He said often times, complex obstetrics and gynaecological cases are carried out using touch light whenever electricity goes off because the standby generators is not functioning.

He said most patients that come to the hospital, often time were made to buy all the needed consumables including hand gloves for their cases from outside the hospital.

He said the third issue was about payment of training allowance, which the management of the hospital had for quite for long refused to pay the training allowances to the Resident Doctors.

At the time of visit to the hospital, though, no officer of the various health unions was available for interview, but a staff of security department of the hospital (name withheld) confirmed that the reasons that orchestrated the total industrial action were all about lack of promotion and payment of promotion allowance/arrears, terrible working conditions resulting from lack of working tools and drugs especially in the night because health workers are forced to work in darkness especially doctors who sometimes carry out surgical operations using touch light.

It was further gathered that the hospital management does cook food, service all the patients and add the cost to their hospital bills. The gesture has been a bitter pill for most patients in the hospital to swallow, as most of the patients could neither eat the food because it wasn’t to their taste nor pay for the cost because the charges are often beyond their financial wherewithal.

Further investigation revealed that, social responsibility duties of the hospital to its host Lamingo communities have been absent because no one from the communities is employed by the hospital.

It was also gathered that all efforts of the Lamingo community youth leaders to see the management proved abortive because the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Banwat Edmund, often turns down their request.

The series of trips to JUTH to see the Chief Medical Director, on the allegation were not fruitful because he was said to be either out of office or engaged in a series of meetings. The Public Relations Officer of the hospital Mrs. Ngozi Okpara said she was not authorized to speak on the issue because it is sensitive pointing out that it is only the CMD that can speak on it.