FG says we shouldn’t expect salaries till January – Doctors
Ask CMDs for your salaries – FG
Though not new to labour related disputes, a new wave of industrial disharmony sweeping
through some federal medical institutions across the country may put the lives of millions of Nigerians thronging the facilities for medical attention in grave danger. A month-long investigation by our correspondent revealed that a large number of dissatisfied medical
workers, including doctors, had stopped going to work, owing to what they described as “inequalities, unfair treatment and corrupt practices within the system.”
The doctors, in particular, now freely attend to private practice or show up at work as they like and attend to patients half-heartedly, according to findings. Some of the institutions affected include the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State; FMC, Lokoja, Kogi State; FMC, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State; University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, among others.
According to The Point’s findings, while some doctors are being owed a backlog of salaries dating back to four months, some health workers are being paid wages far less than what some colleagues on the same work grade earn. In some other cases, following promotion to new positions, some workers were left on their old salary scale while some colleagues, with whom they were promoted, began receiving salary payments based on their new positions.
Following complaints, however, the affected health personnel were upgraded and promised their arrears. But they have continued to wait endlessly. Besides, there are also allegations
that the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Health, had alerted some doctors that their salaries from October to December 2016 would not be paid till the end of January 2017. The information was allegedly contained in a circular that emanated from the Health Ministry and was addressed to the CMDs of the institutions. Some of the affected workers across the hospitals, who spoke with The Point, disclosed that they were informed by the Head of the Administration Department that the Federal Government was
broke and could not afford to pay outstanding salaries for now. The effect of all the development is the lackadaisical attitude of most of the affected personnel to healthcare delivery, which has now become pervasive in their respective institutions.
This was evidently witnessed by our correspondent on a visit to FMC, Abeokuta during the week, when she sighted a rather long queue of patients waiting to see one of the affected doctors who had abandoned his duty post.
And this is coming on the heels of the United Nations Children’s Fund’s revelation on the degree of lack of access to quality health care in the country. According to UNICEF, at the
last count, over 100 million Nigerians were believed to lack access to international standard healthcare service.
At the FMC, Abeokuta, most of the medical doctors, who spoke with The Point in separate interviews, said that their enthusiasm for work had since reduced, following the disclosure by the CMD’s office that the government was broke and would not be able to pay any
salary till January 2017.
According to a respondent, who preferred anonymity, the doctors were asked to manage their savings effectively and prepare for hard times. He said, “That information is taking a toll on the attitude of the health professionals to work. A lot of my colleagues, who own clinics and hospitals have been paying more attention to their businesses compared to the time they spend at work. And surely, this attitude will affect the health system.

Source - The PointNG

CHAIN-JI