Staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching
Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday joined the Joint Health Sector Unions
(JOHESU) strike, paralysing activities in the hospital.
It was reported that patients and their relatives
who visited the hospital walked around wearing long faces, while some were seen
evacuating their loved ones, probably to private hospital.
The Chief Medical Director of NAUTH, Professor
Anthony Igwegbe, a source said, had appealed to the striking workers to provide
skeletal services in order to meet up with attending patients’ needs, but his
plea was not heeded.
The source who pleaded anonymity told journalists that over
1,800 members of the unions working in the institution joined their colleagues
across the country yesterday in the ongoing strike.
The source said: "Professor Igwegbe told the
striking workers that their skeletal services would be needed to ameliorate the plight of
patients already on admission and those being brought in on a daily basis.
"He pleaded with them to maintain emergency
services so that we do not lose lives, stressing that health workers were under
an obligation to save lives and that should be done for the sake of humanity.
"But the workers ignored his appeal. We will
watch and see how we are going to manage the situation.”
When contacted, the Chairman of JOHESU, Ikenna
Anahalu, insisted that the strike must continue.
He said: "We will not go against the
directives of our national body.
"There must be 100 percent compliance to the
strike until our national body instructs otherwise.
"We were strictly warned not to go close to the
hospital premises within the period of the strike."
No comments:
Post a Comment