The Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu, Dr. Ngozichukwu Unaogu, has appealed to workers’ unions in the hospital to reconsider their indefinite strike action and return to the negotiation table in the interest of patients.
Dr. Unaogu urged the union leaders to consider the plight of patients receiving treatment at the hospital, especially those travelling from distant locations for medical care. The workers had embarked on an indefinite strike over alleged irregularities in staff promotions, accusing the management of stagnating them.
Appealing for calm, the CMD said management remained open to dialogue and amicable resolution of the dispute.
“I am appealing to the union executives of the hospital to reconsider their decision and come back to the negotiation table for amicable resolution of the issue. They should consider the patients in the wards and people travelling from far distances for medical services,” she said.
Dr. Unaogu explained that the controversy stemmed from efforts by the hospital to correct what she described as a faulty staff structure in line with directives from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
According to her, before the 2025 senior staff promotion exercise, management held meetings with union executives to explain the need to regularise the structure and establish proper vacancies for promotion.
She said the directive meant that some successful staff members would remain on their current salary scale temporarily because they had already been enjoying the benefits attached to positions/ranks they’re seeking promotion to.
“We informed them before the promotion interview that the Office of the Head of Service instructed the hospital to correct the structure before promotions. The union executives agreed at the time,” she stated.
The CMD said that after the promotion results were forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Health for approval and eventually released, some workers protested and demanded the withdrawal of the promotion letters.
She noted that management made several attempts to explain the situation through meetings and also a town hall session where the Director of Administration outlined the benefits of the restructuring exercise.
“We thought they understood, but they later issued a 21-day ultimatum demanding reversal of the promotions, or they would embark on strike,” she added.
Dr. Unaogu further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Health had been informed of the dispute and has already made arrangements to send representatives to intervene within the week.
She said management had continued engagements with labour leaders, including meetings held on Wednesday last week and two days ago, but expressed surprise that the unions still proceeded with the strike despite pleas for more time to allow the ministry’s intervention.
Also speaking, the Director of Administration, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Dr. Ndidi Igwenagu, explained that correcting the promotion structure would open up the system and create opportunities for more departments to attain directorate status.
According to her, “the present structure has limited the hospital to only two directors, the Director of Administration and the Medical Director, because of the inconsistencies in the promotion framework,” she said.
She stated that once the structure is corrected in line with the approved Federal Civil Service and CONHESS arrangement, departments such as Nursing, Pharmacy, Accounts, and Social Welfare would be able to produce directors. Dr. Igwenagu noted that the current system has stagnated career progression and blocked officers from reaching their appropriate levels.
She maintained that the restructuring would allow deputy directors and other senior officers to rise naturally through the ranks without distortions caused by the skipping of CONHESS 10.
She appealed to the unions to return to work and present concrete proposals to the Federal Ministry of Health for consideration rather than continuing the strike. She insisted that the management was not victimising workers but only implementing corrections directed by the Office of the Head of Service and relevant authorities to align the hospital with the approved civil service structure.
Meanwhile, clinical services have continued, albeit in the hospital, as the doctors, interns, and locum staff are not on strike. In addition, the heads of departments and officers on the directorate cadre have also continued to ensure essential services are provided while they supervise the interns under them.
