Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Monday ordered Chairmen of Governing Boards of Federal Tertiary Health Institutions to remove chief executive offices who fail keep their facilities running during the ongoing Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, strike.
In a meeting with them in Abuja on Monday, Adewole added that everyone who participated in the strike would not be paid for the duration even if the action was called off.
Mrs Boade Akinola, Director Media and Public Relations of the ministry, in a statement, explained that the meeting was to review the status of services being rendered since JOHESU members commenced strike on April 17 over pay parity with medical doctors.
The minister said that anyone who failed to resume would be considered to have absconded from duty without leave, an act considered a serious misconduct in line with Public Service rule 030413.
He disclosed that monitoring teams were dispatched to the tertiary hospitals to assess the activities in various hospitals.
He said that the monitoring teams submitted reports to the ministry which revealed that some hospitals were doing well in providing care, while others were performing below expectation.
Adewole commended the facilities that were offering full services using locum Staff and volunteers and directed immediate restoration of full services in all other facilities.
The minister said that there was no reason any hospital should not have one ward per specialty open for operation.
Adewole demanded that one gynaecology ward, one obstetrics ward, one paediatric ward, one surgical ward and one medical ward, should be kept functioning immediately in facilities yet to do so.
“The clinics must run, theatre must be opened, there is no reason why they should lock your theatre. No one has the right to lock up government hospitals
“We want you to go back and restore services in your various institutions immediately,” he said.
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