El shabah children hospital is one of the health facilities supported by HEALTH Pooled Fund in South Sudan - credit | Charles Wote/Eye Radio - Nov. 6, 2021

Medical Interns at El Sabbah Children’s Hospital in Juba have gone on strike demanding transport and risk allowance, monthly incentive and feeding from the government.

Last week, the Interns wrote a petition requesting the hospital administration to pay them Covid-19 risk allowance, monthly incentives and other social welfare within 72 hours.

They were deployed there by the Directorate of Training and Professional Development at the national Ministry of health after graduating from different institutions in the country.

The over 50 healthcare interns who work during day and evening shifts, say they are responsible for almost the entire work at El Sabbah Children’s hospital.

One of the interns doctors who chose anonymity stated that they will continue with the strike until their demands are addressed.

“We are here working without any good conditions. We don’t have incentives, we don’t have an allowance, we don’t have accommodation and even the risk allowance for Covid-19 was not given for us yet other facilities have been given,” one of the interns doctors told Eye Radio.

“We gave the hospital administration 72 hours that started on Tuesday and they did not complied with any of the conditions so we decided to lay down our tools yesterday [Friday].

“Up to now we are still on strike as our demands are not answered by the hospital administration, the state and national Ministry. We are going to continue with strike until our demands are solved.”

According to an Eye Radio Journalist who visited the health facility yesterday, the strike has affected most of the patients who stay for hours without being attended to.

Another striking clinical officer is a graduate from Juba Institute of Health Science and was deployed to El Sabbah Children’s Hospital in January last year.

She told Eye Radio that she has not been given any allowance for nearly a year, citing negligence from the health authorities.

“They have never informed us that this is how the nature of our work is supposed to be but when we raise the strike, they said we are not recognized. They are only going to recognize doctors and most of the work is done by us.” said a clinical officer.

According to the interns, they are supposed to spend about 17 months performing many of the same duties as doctors.

This includes taking patient histories, examining patients, conducting medical procedures among others.

However, another clinical officer who too requested anonymity had the following recommendations to the health authorities.

“They have to unify the payment of the clinical officers and house officers because the budgets were released in the name of all frontline workers,” another clinical officer told an Eye Radio journalist who visited the hospital.

“We need them to provide food, transport allowance plus incentives. We need at least 50,000 SSP per day to cover 25,000 for all of those working during day time that is lunch and transport.

“The other 25,000 is for those who are coming for night duty that will cover feeding and transport for them that is what we want. For monthly incentives even though they give us 10,000 SSP in a month or 5,000 in a month it is an appreciation.”

But one of the senior officials at El Sabbah Children’s hospital who is not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the strike.

Eye Radio’s effort to get a comment from the state and national Ministry of health were not immediately successful.