A NEW twist may have been added to the industrial crisis rocking the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia as the Centre's branch of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association of Nigeria (AMLSN) has called for the resignation of the hospital's Medical Director, Dr. Abali Chuku.The association last week embarked on an indefinite strike to protest the suspension of their colleague, Mr. Anene Ifeanyichukwu for allegedly routing his application for casual leave through the Head of Department of Laboratory Services instead of the Head of Histopathology to which all medical laboratory scientists in the Centre were redeployed.They accused Chuku of encouraging quackery in the hospital by drafting unqualified personnel to do their professional work and also alleging that he was unwilling to dialogue with the executives of the state AMLSN to resolve the matter.However, in his reaction, Chuku debunked the association's claims, stating that unreliable laboratory results have been an issue before his emergence as the Centre's head.He added: 'Previous visits of the accreditation committees of the West African College of Medicine and the Postgraduate Medical College (two postgraduate medical colleges that oversee the training of specialists in medicine and surgery in Nigeria) had drawn our attention to the requirement of the colleges 'that all laboratory services must be headed by a qualified laboratory medicine physician to ensure that our laboratories generate results that are reliable and professional'.In a statement, Chuku explained that, 'the FMC management in its bid to improve services created the Histopathology Department headed by a consultant pathologist/forensic expert and redeployed all medical laboratory scientists to this department.'On the suspended Ifeanyichukwu, the medical director stated that he was one of the laboratory scientists so redeployed, adding that on September 15th, 2011, the head of Histopathology complained that Ifeanyichukwu had been absent from work for two days and issued a query to him.He added that it was discovered later that Ifeanyichukwu had taken casual leave without management's approval and consequently, was suspended following an unsatisfactory response to the query issued to him by his head of department pending the outcome of a disciplinary panel constituted to look into the matter.According to his statement, 'Following Ifeanyichukwu's suspension, the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association wrote the Chairman, Board of Management through the Secretary of Board and copied the Medical Director, giving the management seven days ultimatum to recall him or else they embark on an indefinite strike. That thestrike was embarked on after a seven-day ultimatum, contravenes the Labour law and is therefore illegal. The Labour Act provides for 30-day ultimatum followed by 21 days and subsequently seven days.
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