About 700 resident doctors in federal government-owned hospitals are staying away from work as the nationwide strike by resident doctors entered its second day Thursday.
The withdrawal of service by the doctors paralyzed service delivery in the hospitals as patients in critical conditions were forced to wait for hours without seeing a doctor.
Nigeria Info sighted only a few consultants at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) Speciality Clinic Annex attending to over a hundred patients.
A stranded patient diagnosed with diabetes sighted at the AKTH Speciality Clinic Annex, Umar Abdulhamidb lamented that he had spent over 10 hours in the hospital without seeing a doctor.
“I am sick and tired of this. I have been here for about 10 hours, but I'm yet to be attended to by the consultants due to the large number of patients on the ground,” he complained.
The Vice President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) at AKTH, Dr. Abba Tijjani revealed that “over 500 resident doctors in the hospital have downed tools due to the federal government’s nonchalant attitude to addressing their demands.”
“Although we have had several meetings with the federal government on our demands, they still failed to address them as promised,” he further disclosed.
Orthopedic Hospital Suspends Surgeries
Scheduled surgeries were suspended at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Dala, as a result of the strike.
More than a hundred resident doctors there joined the indefinite strike, according to the President of NARD in the hospital, Dr. Ibrahim Bolaji Ahmed.
“The association will not call off the strike until the Federal Government address all their demands,” he said.
The Demands
The National Association of Resident Doctors is demanding the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) and the immediate release of the circular on the one-for-one replacement, according to a communique it issued on Tuesday.
It is also pushing for the payment of skipping arrears and an upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in line with the full salary restoration to the 2014 value of CONMESS.
Other requests are the payment of the arrears of consequential adjustment of the minimum wage to the doctors for whom it was omitted, and the reversal of the downgrading of the membership certificate by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
In addition, the doctors want a revised hazard allowance, skipping and implementation of corrected CONMESS in state health institutions, and the payment of omitted hazard allowance arrears.
