JOHESU petitions Presidency, accuses hospitals’ CMDs, MDs of sabotage

The Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, yesterday raised the alarm over what it described as continuous disruption of post-graduate specialty and skill acquisition endeavours by chief medical directors and medical directors of Federal Health Institutions, FHI, accusing them of sabotaging the residency training circular of resident pharmacists.

In a circular sighted by Vanguard, Acting National Secretary of JOHESU, Comrade Matthew Ajorutu, alleged that all the chief executive officers of FHIs, with the backing of the Federal Ministry of Health, FmoH, had sabotaged the residency training and a few FHIs allowing resident training for pharmacists on exorbitant fees, contrary to the enabling circular.

He argued that the development was contrary to the 2015 circular by the FMoH under the leadership of the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Linus Awute, which approved the use of all FHIs in the country as training facilities for resident pharmacists in-training at the WAPCP through a circular.

He regretted that 11 years after the National Council on Establishment, NCE, endorsed a consultant pharmacist cadre, FmoH, in alliance with the Committee of CMDs and MDs of the FHIs, had sabotaged the circular which prescribes that graduates of the WAPCP in the Directorate Cadre from CONHESS 13 to 15 be recognised as Consultant Pharmacists in the Public Service.

“In what was perceived as very bizzare the FMoH recently wrote a memo to the NCE asking for further clarifications on the implementation of the Consultant Cadre circular for pharmacists.  This memo was rejected and thrown out by the NCE which insisted that all necessary steps for implementation of the Consultant Cadre for Pharmacists were already spelt out in the August 2021 Circular of the FMoH.

“It is noteworthy that the Permanent Secretary, FMoH in a letter Ref. no. FMH/FDS/CSPTH/1/77 OF March 18, 2021, issued an internal circular to all Heads of Departments, FHIs, Agencies/Parastatals and regulatory bodies directing immediate implementation of the approved scheme, a circular that has continually been flouted by the CMDs and MDs of the FHIs.