The Hospital Cleaner’s Strike
on Shona in Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone), 02/Jan/2011 15:22, 34 days ago
This year was possibly the strangest Hogmanay I have ever had. I got to work by taxi then walking from PZ (a relatively quiet walk in the morning compared to the afternoon when there is a mad crazy accumulation of people selling anything you could possibly want ranging from charity t-shirts, Tescos magazines from 2006, incredibly high heels, the WHO-issue oral rehydration solution and therapeutic feeds for malnourished children, knock-off CDs and DVDs, pots and pans, kettles, cornflakes for£5 a box… the list goes on).Anyway… I got to work to find that the gates had been barricaded by the hospital cleaners, who were on strike. They hadn’t been paid for two months. So they were stopping anyone getting into or out of the hospital compound. Doctors, nurses and patients included. I spoke to some of the night nurses through the fence who explained to me what was going on. Many people outside thought that the doctors were striking again (the doctors and nurses all went on strike earlier in the year before Free Health Care for under-5s and pregnant and lactating women started – they were no longer able to top up their meagre salaries with extra money by charging patients – so ended up with a 500% increase in salary after a horribly unethical but highly effective strike when the hospital was closed for two weeks).The nurses inside the gates persuaded the cleaners to let me in. Once inside the hospital it was a) very quiet b) dark– the electricity was clearly off and no one had switched the generator on (meaning that the oxygen concentrators supplying oxygen for children weren’t working) and c) even dirtier than normal. But this was only the start…I retreated into my office to check my email and text Sandra to let her know what was happening. In the meantime I could hear a commotion outside the office door. My office is just outside ER so hearing a commotion is not too unusual as I can often hear mothers’ wailing. There was proper shouting and the sounds of things being thrown around. When it had quietened down a bit I decided to investigate…. Not only had the cleaners decided not to do any cleaning – they had also thrown all the rubbish from the bins all over the floor or ER and ICU – including needles, syringes, empty bags of blood, and other domestic waste, and – wait for it – a dead cat. They also threw it all over triage and out-patients. And ward 1. And outside. To make matters even worse, they threw water all over it. It was just disgusting.In the meantime the gates had been opened so the nurses, doctors and patients were able to get inside. Thankfully, the ICU patients had all already been seen by the night doctor. Some of the parents started trying to clean up the mess. Unfortunately this was noticed by the cleaners who started shouting and throwing all the rubbish around again. Several emergencies had been brought into ER so I was mid-cannulation while all this was going on. It was all completely mental.In the meantime I was so impressed with the nurses on ICU. They all just got up and started sorting out all the patients, going through the medications to find out what was needed from pharmacy, asking me to sign prescriptions and lab forms, and getting me to review a few patients they were really worried about. It was great teamwork and all credit to them for just carrying on.At about midday, the cleaners all suddenly came back into ER and started cleaning up all the mess they had made! They had obviously come to some sort of agreement. I found out later that they had been on strike before with no results, hence the more forceful“listen to us” message.A very bizarre day. In the evening I went to pick up Zoe (who was unwell and as she was alone at home I thought she should come and stay with us, where there is a flushing toilet). After dinner and lots of deliberation, and knowing that Zoe was okay, I was persuaded to go out to bring in the bells. Most people had either gone home, or up-country to a place called Kabala where there is a Hogmanay party every year. So there were just a few of us at O’Caseys (yes, there is an Irish bar in Freetown). But there were fireworks and music and friends including Cat, Rey, Sandra, Fred and Emily who had flown in from London that day for a two week holiday and to catch up on the hospital. Despite my saying I wouldn’t have a late night we stumbled inat 3.30am, me very proud that I persuaded the taxi driver, in Krio, to drive us right to our front door.We spent New Year’s Day at Bliss (where I discovered the joys of aChocolate Bliss– think Marks and Spencer’s chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream – yum!), swimming at the UN and then went to Frankie and Howard’s for a very chilled out and red-meat filled barbeque before falling asleep at half nine!