Strike: Health workers comply with NLC’s directives in Abuja General Hospital

All health workers, except medical doctors at Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja, complied with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) directives and stopped working.

While most departments were closed, essential services such as Emergency, Records, Labour Ward, Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), and Pharmacy remained open to attend to patients.

However, nurses were largely unavailable, with only a few and some department heads ensuring continuity of care for in-patients.

The medical director, Dr. Emmanuel Musa, was seen making rounds in the hospital.

The cleaners and security personnel were also at their posts.

Despite the absence of power supply from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in the town, the hospital has alternative power sources, including solar power and generating sets, to ensure continuous operation.

According to the Acting Director-General of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Hospital Management Board (HMB), Olugbenga Bello, who spoke to our correspondent over the phone, hospitals in the FCT are not completely shut down due to the strike.

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“Yes, all the health unions are on strike, but doctors are not. In FCT, our doctors are providing skeletal services just because they cannot perform all the duties of other health workers. We are bound to attend to emergency situations and try to save lives first,” he said.

Dr. Bello emphasized that emergency patients would receive attention, while those with more severe conditions would be referred to other facilities.

He assured that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure in-patients, especially the indigent who cannot afford private healthcare, receive quality care.

“We are uncertain when the strike will end, so we must be prepared to care for our in-patients who are already in our care and emergency situations as well,” he added.

In the Emergency section, the on-duty Medical doctor was seen attending to patients from her desk.

A mother leaving the hospital confirmed that her sick child received attention but couldn’t be admitted due to the strike, though her child’s case wasn’t critical.

The Emergency doctor was overheard explaining to a patient that she couldn’t admit him due to the strike but would refer him to another hospital if his condition was critical.

A visit to several private health facilities in the Abuja suburb showed that there was no extraordinary influx of patients as a result of the strike action.

An Administrative officer in one of the hospitals along a popular busy road in Kubwa said, “The day, so far, is just like any other day. We haven’t recorded any influx of patients today that is strange to us. It is just like any other day, and we have been coping as usual because there is no pressure on our personnel or infrastructure.”