Table 3.
Common causes of healthcare worker strikes in Nigeria
| Description | Frequency | % | Type of comments made |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government | 5 | 13.9 | Failure of hospital management to uphold Federal Government (FG) agreements about salaries and allowances; Breach of trust by the government and government insincerity; Unfulfilled agreements reached with the Government on wages, training, equipping the hospital; Insincerity of FG and Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) in keeping to agreements and manipulation of union heads by politicians; Change of Government |
| Infrastructures | 4 | 11.1 | Poor hospital utility facilities (No water in wards, Poor/No doctors’ call room, etc.); Poor working environment; Security of staff; and Poor infrastructure in the hospitals |
| Leadership and management | 5 | 13.9 | At the core of it is welfare issues like low staff motivation; Poor communication between hospital leadership/administration and healthcare workers; Hospital leadership quick to respond to circulars from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) that are anti-workers, but slow to respond to circulars that favour workers; Hospital leadership disconnected from the true situation of things in the hospital and unmindful of the experiences of patients; Leadership tussle |
| Welfare | 6 | 16.7 | For improvement in workers’ welfare; Delayed promotion; Joint Health Sector Union’s (JOHESU) demand to be appointed consultants; Failure of the management to sponsor residents’ exams and updates; Denial of basic entitlement such as salary and training sponsorship |
| Compensation and salary | 5 | 13.9 | Poor workers’ compensation; Inconsistent salaries; Delayed salary payment; Pay check is delayed and very small to meet up with present day reality; Remuneration skipping/relativity |
| Inter-professional disputes | 2 | 5.6 | Inter-professional disputes, unnecessary disharmony amongst healthcare workers |
| Poor guidelines and services | 4 | 11.1 | Poor guidelines for progression for different cadre of healthcare workers; Agitation for improved service delivery; Upgrading the standard of health care delivery and assault on a health worker; Lack of residency training policy |
| Others | 5 | 13.9 | Lack of facilities, residency templates for residents; In solidarity with unjustly dismissed colleagues in order that they be reinstated; For regularization of entry and other grade levels; Greed; Protest against sack of residents who have overstayed |