Patients lament as doctors’ strike paralyses activities at FMC Yenagoa

The strike action embarked upon by resident doctors at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Yenagoa has brought untold hardship to patients of the hospital.

This comes as the management revealed that plans are underway to resolve the industrial dispute with the doctors who down tools penultimate week.

The resident doctors under the auspices of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had on November 15, 2016, commenced an indefinite strike to protest the non-payment of their salaries for past two months and 52 per cent salary shortfall for some months.

It was also gathered that other unions are currently threatening to join the strike if the grievances of the doctors and other workers were not addressed urgently.

However, it does appear that the intervention of the management may be too little and too late for the patients as they are now groaning owing to lack of assess to medical care.

When The Guardian visited the hospital during the week, members of the public that thronged the facility were seen turned back by Nurses and other health professionals who are yet to join the strike.

The prolonged strike has indeed rendered the hospital desolate as patients on admission had been discharged as a few consultants rendered only skeletal medical services.

Some other persons were seeing finalizing preparations to take their sick loved ones to other health facilities within Yenagoa metropolis.

But the Director of Administration at FMC, Inibaraye Ogoro, said that the hospital management was in talks with the Federal Government to end the strike and prevent other staff from joining the action.

He said that the hospital administration was doing all it could to meet the demands of FMC workers in order to end the strike soon.

The Head of Clinical Services, Dr. Preye Numbere, said the strike involved only resident doctors, adding that the hospital was still rendering health services.

He said the consultants were making concerted efforts to fill the gap as the hospital administration had started engaging the management to pay the striking doctors their outstanding salaries as soon as possible.