While workers’ strike lasted, hospitals offered skeletal services in Nigeria’s capital city

Government-owned medical facilities across the country are complying with the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to embark on a nationwide indefinite strike by limiting services provided to emergency cases alone.

At Wuse District Hospital, Abuja Municipal Area Council, patients who visited in the early hours of Monday were prohibited from entering the facility as the workers kept reiterating that they were on strike.

A pregnant patient, who identified herself simply as Regina, who visited the hospital early Monday morning for antenatal, had to stay back in the hospital until it was past 2 p.m., a situation which she described as unusual.

Although she eventually got the care she needed, it took longer than usual, Ms Regina told PREMIUM TIMES. According to her, several pregnant women were gathered outside with her, waiting to be allowed into the facility.

The patient said when the facility began to attend to the women, the group had grown populated, causing a long queue and even longer waiting time.

“It was unfair,” she said. “If they don’t attend to everyone, they should at least prioritise pregnant women.”

However, unlike Ms Regina, another pregnant patient who refused to be identified said she could not get the health services she needed. She said after waiting for hours, she found that the hospital, due to the NLC strike, could not admit her for childbirth as earlier scheduled.

“They said I could not deliver the child here because of the strike. Instead, they have recommended a private hospital where I am supposed to have my child,” she said.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited hospitals across Abuja, it found a high level of compliance. Many of the facilities had fewer professionals present at work. At about 2 p.m., many of these personnel were set to leave their workplace or had closed for the day.

At the National Hospital Abuja, our reporter found that some patients seeking health care were turned down or referred to a private facility. Some others, like Rejoice Julius, a patient struggling with kidney disease, were left stranded.

Ms Julius told this reporter that by the time she arrived at the district hospital in Wuse, health providers who should be attending to the patients were nowhere to be found.

According to health workers, hospitals could only offer skeletal services due to the shortage of staff present and the unavailability of other resources such as electricity due to the strike.

Our reporter found that emergency cases that required more serious procedures, such as surgical operations, were not attended to because only medical doctors were at work, while healthcare workers whose associations are affiliates of NLC and TUC, such as nurses, pharmacists, community healthcare workers, among others, stayed away from work

The spokesperson at the National Hospital, Tayo Haastrup, confirmed that the hospital could only offer skeletal and emergency services because a significant number of its workers joined the strike.

He stated that most of the senior health professionals at the facility were available to attend to patients depending on the service required.

However, he noted that the strike had impacted the quality of service delivered to patients in need of health care and the speed of work at the facility.

Partial compliance in FMC Jabi

At the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, compliance with the directive was also partial.

When PREMIUM TIMES’ reporter got to the hospital around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, there were little or no signs that the workers were on strike. This newspaper learnt that the leadership of the hospital sought cooperation and collaboration of the workers to attend to many of the patients on admission while critical cases were also attended to.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the facility, Obadiah Gana, told our reporter in his office on Tuesday that there was only partial compliance with the strike because the hospital deals with lives.

He said: “As you know, we deal with lives, so there can’t be a total shutdown here. However, there were staff who complied.

“The management of the hospital has put a system in place that even when there is a strike, one is at liberty to come and work voluntarily”.

Power outage affects services

Unlike other general hospitals in the FCT, the General Hospital in Garki was fully functional when PREMIUM TIMES visited. This is because the facility is run on a public-private partnership basis.

According to Adeleye Moses, a laboratory scientist at the hospital, it is facilitated by a public-private partnership and, as a result, was not “really” affected directly by the industrial action.

However, due to the nationwide power outage, Mr Moses said the hospital could not offer 24-hour service as was the practice before the strike.

Also speaking, one of Mr Moses’ colleagues, Success Igbinosa, expressed concern over the impact of the strike on the health of many patients while the strike lasted.

About strike

Both NLC and the TUC had been in negotiation with the Nigerian government over a new minimum wage since President Bola Tinubu openly declared the removal of fuel subsidy upon his inauguration in 2023.

The consequences of the President’s action, the labour unions insisted, had included volatile exchange rates markets, rising inflation, and the attendant rising cost of goods and services across the country.

In May, the government proposed a minimum wage of N60,000, noting that accepting the demand of N490,000 proposed by the union would cripple the economy and lead to job losses.

However, the unions rejected this offer and, in response, issued a notice for a nationwide strike. PREMIUM TIMES observed that since the commencement of the strike, schools and offices have also been closed, and in hospitals, activities have been disrupted.

But on Tuesday, following long hours of engagements on Monday evening between the government officials and the leadership of the striking unions, an agreement was reached, and the labour unions announced the suspension of the industrial action for one week to access the government’s commitment to the terms of the agreement.