Irked by Federal Government’s alleged refusal to pay five –year promotion arrears to health professionals working at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Lagos, health workers under the aegis of the Joint Health Sectors Union (JOHESU), Yaba branch, began a seven- day warning strike yesterday to press home their demands.
Also, the health workers have called on the management of Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba not to privatise Total Diagnostic Centre, which was donated to the hospital last year by the Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and partners, as being proposed.
According to various health workers who spoke yesterday at the hospital premises during the declaration of the strike, over 800 health workers from JOHESU have been promoted without having arrears in the last five years.
The strike will mean that all health workers, including psychiatric nurses, medical social workers, medical laboratory scientists, pharmacists and medical radiographers at the hospital will not be attending to patients in need of psychiatric and neurological care.
Yaba Psychiatric Hospital JOHESU Chairman, Mr. Uzundu Eke, explained that since 2010, the Federal Government had refused to pay the sum of N388 million being owed as promotion arrears to the health workers.
Eke added that meetings by members of the union with office of the Accountant General of the Federation and management of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba to see that the money was paid have not yielded positive response.
Yaba branch of JOHESU Secretary, Mr. Abioye Omoyemi, added that the same arrears have been paid to all JOHESU members in federal hospitals in Lagos, and wondered why the case of those in the psychiatric hospital was different.
Omoyemi, therefore, called on the president to intervene in the matter to save patients from the suffering that may follow the strike. On the issue of privatization of Total Diagnostic Centre, Eke said the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, has the capacity to manage the hospital for the best interest of the patients, adding that having the centre managed by the private sector would be at the detriment of patients who will not be able to afford the exorbitant cost of the centre.
