Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) Rejects Planned Privatization of Essential Services in Osun State University Teaching Hospital (UNIOSUNTH)
We support the protest actions of the staff unions and call on other unions to show solidarity and support to them
The attention of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Osun State, has been drawn to the protest of workers of Osun State University Teaching Hospital (UNIOSUNTH) over the plan of the hospital governing council, acting on behalf of the state government, to privatize services in the hospital. Claiming it to be a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), the new policy, if it sails through, will see services such as laboratory services, ICU services, catering services, etc., handed over to private businesses.
We in the DSM express our support for the workers’ protests and stand in solidarity with them over their plan for strike action if the institution’s governing council and the state government do not back down from this ruinous policy. We also support other demands of the unions, including over stalled promotions. We also call on the labour centres i.e. the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) in Osun State, and other unions to support the demands and action of the Joint Action Committee of the Unions in the UNIOSUNTH.
Furthermore, we call on the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) and other medical doctors’ associations, not to see this policy as being in their interests. Rather they should align with other staff unions to demand reversal of the policy. If this policy is allowed to see the light of the day, apart from making the work of doctors difficult, it will also set the tone for other anti-worker policies.
If allowed, the PPP arrangement will further haemorrhage an already bleeding institution. The teaching hospital has faced the challenge of inadequate funding for years, while facilities are grossly inadequate. Also, there is a shortage of medical staff and other health workers in the institution. Rather than fund the teaching hospital adequately, the Adeleke-led state government is abdicating its responsibility to the only state-owned tertiary healthcare institution, by empowering the governing council to privatize essential services such as medical tests and ICU services.
If this is allowed, it will mean these services will be priced beyond the reach of the majority of the working and poor people in the state. On the other hand, it will enrich the private businesses offering these services. Aside from this, it will lead to the retrenchment of staff, as affected departments will become redundant. This will mean the hospital losing experienced staff in order to enrich some people. On the other hand, those who will be employed by the private service providers may not be given conditions of service comparable to what obtain in the public sector. They will be likely on contract or casual employment without the right to decent work or a trade union.
Therefore, rather than leading to higher efficiency, as falsely claimed by the governing council, the PPP arrangement will further make services in the hospital costly and unaffordable. If the government is serious about efficiency, it should adequately fund the hospital, improve and expand its facilities, and employ more trained staff.
However, the planned privatization of essential services in the hospital mirrors the state government’s disorganized policies in the health sector. Despite its claims about funding primary health centres and state hospitals, the reality is that the health sector in the state is in bad shape. The sector is still plagued by poor services, inadequate staff and shortage of essential materials and facilities like laboratories, scanning facilities, pharmacy, etc. Therefore, this current protest by staff of UNIOSUNTH underscores the need for all the in-house unions in the state’s health sector to jointly and collectively demand a better health system in the state.
Alfred Adegoke
State Coordinator
Kola Ibrahim
State Secretary