Hospital services in public hospitals in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were disrupted yesterday following the indefinite strike embarked upon by medical doctors under the auspices of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
NARD had on July 5, 2023, given the federal government a two-week ultimatum and had threatened to embark on an indefinite strike if the government failed to do the needful by the expiration of the ultimatum.
This came about six weeks after the association had suspended its five-day warning strike which it embarked on from May 17 to May, 21, 2023.
One week after the expiration of the ultimatum, the doctors had embarked on an indefinite strike over the government's failure to meet their demands.
NARD president, Dr Emeka Orji, said the decision was reached at the end of the extra-ordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the association held virtually on Tuesday.
He said the meeting was predicated upon serious burning issues affecting the welfare of its members, based on the ultimatum of two weeks given to the government on 5th July 2023 which expired on 19th July 2023.
When LEADERSHIP visited the National Hospital, Abuja at about 3pm on Wednesday, NARD president in the hospital, Dr Alao Olawale, said the strike had been so effective, and resident doctors in the National Hospital were complying.
He said they were monitoring the situation of things, adding that "We never wanted to embark on this strike because we know that we are also Nigerians and we feel what Nigerians are feeling and it also affect service delivery but we must care for ourselves too even if we care for others and that is why we are pleading that the government should do the needful."
The spokesperson for the hospital, Dr Tayo Haastrup, told our correspondent that staff of the hospital who are members of NARD, have complied with their national body's directive and joined the strike.
As at 10:00am when LEADERSHIP visited some of the hospitals in Lagos, patients were seen at the waiting areas to be attended to. Although there were skeletal services in some of the hospitals, some patients claimed they were asked to go home or wait, should they have an already scheduled appointment with consultants.
At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, many patients were stranded as the majority of them were turned back without getting the needed treatment.
For instance, Mrs Blessing Ugo, who brought her two year old son to LASUTH told LEADERSHIP that she was told to take her son to another hospital, since her son's case is not that serious, as there were no doctors on ground to attend to her.
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Resident Doctors Begin Indefinite Strike
At the emergency ward, one of the security officers told LEADERSHIP that the hospital is not attending to emergency cases. "As you can see, everywhere is empty, not because we don't have emergency cases at the general emergency ward, but because there are no resident doctors on ground to attend to them. If it is serious, the nurses would just give first aid treatment and refer them to another clinic," he revealed.
The chairman, Association of Resident Doctors, LASUTH, Dr Salman Abeeb Oladapo confirmed that LASUTH ARD is strictly adhering to the directives of the NARD.
Oladapo disclosed that more than 60 per cent of healthcare workers at LASUTH are resident doctors, hence the reason why hospital services are grounded.
The secretary of the Medical and Consultant Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, LASUTH, Dr Morouf Abdulsalam, said consultants will definitely feel the impact of resident doctors as they are the majority in the healthcare system at LASUTH.
When asked if LASUTH has ad-hoc staff to complement consultants this period, Abdulsalam averred that "LASUTH does not have ad-hoc staff; it is either you are a staff or you are not."
