ESUT doctors call off strike

Resident doctors at the Enugu State University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Parklane, have suspended their indefinite strike action to allow government time to implement agreements reached, the doctors said yesterday.

They have therefore asked their members to resume normal services immediately.
A statement from the doctors said the decision to suspend the strike was not only to “reduce the suffering of the good people of the State but to give ample time for more negotiations and implementation of proper placement of doctors in Enugu State on April 2019 CONMESS.”

Officials of the Association said they would meet in another two months to “reassess the level of implementation of agreements reached with government and take necessary actions.”

The residents in the statement by their chairman, Dr Chime Edo were however quick to point out that they were mindful of the need not to neglect the danger that COVID-19 posed to the people of the State during the period of the strike.

“ARD ESUTH Parklane permitted some of her members, who were trained by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to continue rendering their services towards Covid-19 case management, at the isolation Centre in ESUT-TH, despite the indefinite withdrawal of services by all other members of the Association,” the statement said.

The doctors are pressing the State Government to fully implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) of 2009 which are being paid to health professionals in federal and some states since 2014 and which was further reviewed in 2019.

They also complained that there was a disparity in the entry points for medical doctors between ESUTH Parklane and other state and federal institutions that have implemented full CONMESS.