LUTH, UCTH appeal to resident doctors to suspend strike

• Denies allegation of indifference
•Hospital still offers services
• As medical consultants direct striking doctors back to work

THE Chief Medical Director (CMD), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos State, Prof. Chris Bode has appealed to the institution’s resident doctors to call off their strike for the sake of humanity.

Meanwhile, medical doctors in Nigeria, under the umbrella of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) at a briefing with journalists in Abuja has directed all residents doctors currently on strike in the country back to the hospital.

It would be recalled that on Monday, June 29, 2015, the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), LUTH chapter, embarked on an indefinite strike action over what they cited to be as a result of poor working conditions in the institution and inability of the hospital to implement ‘Skipping Structure Allowance’ to their members as directed by the Federal Government.

President of the association, Steven Oluwole, said most of the tertiary hospitals “are currently not functioning optimally or not rendering services due to industrial action initiated by resident doctors” in the country.

Oluwole said the strike was based on non-payment of skipping adjustment to the salary of doctors in all hospitals where “support staff” were paid such salary adjustment.

He said that government had agreed with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) that such adjustment to salaries in the health services was ridiculous, and issued directives to stop the payments.

The LUTH CMD who refuted an earlier claims by the doctors that the hospital management threated their threats with levity, said the management had on more than three occasions in the past two weeks, met with the group’s executives and even had a town hall meeting where all the doctors in the hospital were present to dialogue and appeal to them.

Speaking on Tuesday at a press conference in the hospital’s premises, the CMD noted that all efforts to appeal on the trainee specialists to shelve their strike at this time proved abortive.

He wondered why the doctors despite the directives and appeals by Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and other bodies not to embark on any strike at this critical point in the life of the country and at the early stage of the new administration has refused to heed to those advice.

Pointing to the fact that they are losing training as a result of the industrial action, Bode frowned that doctors who are supposed to be in training and be on ground to learn from the consultants and mentors, have rather engaged themselves in wrong part, while “granting unrestrained interviews and saying all sort of things to the public with the sole purpose of catching their attention.”

He however disclosed that not all the resident doctors are on strike, adding that the hospital decided not to shut down their services even though the level of operation has declined,

Noting that they are established primarily to render services and care for members of the public, Bode said: “I am happy to tell you that as of today, we have over 300 patients on admission in the hospital, all services in the hospital are working, all consultants have been working, all the units of the hospital are working; we have been admitting X-rays, laboratories, emergency services, operations have been going on, labour ward is working and many others.

“I want to use this medium to thank everybody that has made sure we do not fail those who repose their trusts in us as a hospital. We want to tell the public that LUTH is not shut down, we are still rendering services.”

Bode further debunked the claims of the resident doctors that other hospital in the same category as theirs are paying their own doctors the skipping allowance, disclosing that at a meeting of about 49 CMDs in the country, only one of the CMDs revealed that his hospital is paying their staffs the allowance.

Refusing to disclose the name of the hospital, the CMD stated that the number of the resident doctors in the hospital in question cannot in anyway be equated to that of LUTH, which he revealed has over 500 trainee doctors and gulp over N50million every month to take care of the payment.

Bode stated that there is no way the hospital would be given funds to pay the allowance by the Federal Government and would not pay the staffs. He stressed that the hospital is not against any allowance due to any group of people.

“If government promises any group of workers any allowance, we are not opposed to it at all. We know that when government has the money, they will pay it to these our restive doctors. They should not transfer the failure of the government to meet up with their promise to the teaching hospitals and accusing them of unfounded allegations.

“We want them to consider the prevailing circumstances in the country. There are people who have not been paid for months. We won’t because of some allowances say we will abandon our professional calling. We all swore an oath that we will not abandon our patients come rain, come shine,” Bode said.

He finally called on the doctors to suspend their strike saying that the action is not in the interest of them as trainees, the hospital, the patients and the country in general.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Dr. Olufemi Fasanmade stated that in the hospital’s quest to improve the facilities of the hospital and operate at its optimum, the hospital will in the next one month start running on an Independent Power Plant (IPP).

The CMAC disclosed they entered into a Public private Partnership (PPP) with Messrs CET Power who has built a Three Megawatts IPP in the hospital’s premises to supply electricity to both the hospital and the College of medicine.

He noted that the facility, which has reached 80 per cent completion, is constructed to enhance the activities in the hospital and also prove wrong the claims of the ARD that nothing is working in the hospital.

In a similar development, resident doctors at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) have also commenced an indefinite strike action.

The strike action, which is a week old, is taking a toll on the hospital, as consultants cannot cope with the workload. Some patients have even vacated the UCTH.

The about 400 members of the Association of Resident Doctors commenced the indefinite strike over their working conditions.

Meanwhile, the CMD of the hospital, Dr Thomas Agan on Monday decried the strike action embarked upon by the resident doctors calling on the doctors to resume work.

The President of the association, Dr Ukweh Ikechukwu , said the total strike was sequel to a 21-day ultimatum which ended on Wednesday, July,2015.