FG moves to resolve crisis in health sector

The federal government negotiating team for the resolution of the lingering crisis in the health sector has taken another step towards the restoration of industrial harmony in the sector. The team, comprising the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, Minister of State for Health, Dr O. Ehanire, Chairman […]

The federal government negotiating team for the resolution of the lingering crisis in the health sector has taken another step towards the restoration of industrial harmony in the sector.
The team, comprising the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, Minister of State for Health, Dr O. Ehanire, Chairman of the National Income, Salaries and Wages Commission, Chief Richard Egbule and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr Clement Iloh, met last week at the instance of Ngige, a statement issued by the labour ministry’s deputy director (press), Samuel Olowooker said. 
“The meeting took far reaching decisions among which is the setting up of two committees to look into the issue of the circular on salary adjustments and the payment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure skipping arrears,” the statement said.
Ngige, speaking at the end of the meeting, said there was an overriding need for dialogue to attain industrial peace.
 “We have set up two committees-one is to look into the issue of JOHESU demands for relativity circular to enable them get reasonable wages while the other is to look into the issue of skipping because members of the Health Sector Unions, Nurses  and Midwives  Association, Laboratory Association want to skip a particular grade level,” Ngige said. 
The Minister of Health, Professor Adewole, emphasised the essence of peace in the all-important health sector, promising:  “This is the beginning of lasting peace. We wish to take every complaint on board. We will look at them critically in a way that will remove any form of interruption in the national healthcare delivery.”