By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.
Tripoli, 11 August 2013:
The Ministry of Health today issued a warning to doctors and other medical staff on strike . . .[restrict]at the Accident and Emergency department at Tripoli’s Central Hospital to return to work immediately or face legal action.
The unit has not been operating for four days.
A&E staff at the hospital stopped work last week following an assault on one of the doctors there. Striking staff are still working in other departments but refuse to return to A&E until the authorities ensure proper security in the unit.
“We want improved security throughout the hospital, but particularly in A&E,” a doctor told the Libya Herald today.
The attack was far from the first. Doctors and other staff at Tripoli Central Hospital have been subject to numerous assaults including being beaten, threatened and verbally abused in the unit for more than a year.
Because of the strike, the A & E Department the hospital at Abu Sleem hospital is now struggling according to Solidarity Press, all the more so given the increased number of clashes and accidents due to the present political climate and lack of law and order.
The Health Ministry has not specified what legal action would be taken against staff if they refuse to return to work. However, one hospital staff member told the Libya Herald that they thought those involved in the strike might be replaced. [/restrict]
