There are fears the poor health indices recorded by the country and the spread of COVID-19 may get worse as the ongoing strike by resident doctors paralysed activities in 98 per cent of government hospitals nationwide.
When The Guardian reporters visited Federal Government-owned hospitals and health institutions across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, patients and their relatives were seen groaning in despair. Most of the hospitals had started discharging patients while others had stopped admitting new ones.
Resident doctors in most of the hospitals visited complied fully with the strike directive from their parent body. Only medical consultants and nurses were seen offering skeletal services.
The implication is that since resident doctors offer more than 50 per cent of medical services in Federal Government-owned hospitals and health institutions, patients with critical conditions are more likely to be affected if the strike continued.
Also, despite attempts by the Federal Government and other stakeholders to persuade resident doctors under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to call off their one-day industrial action, reasons have emerged why the leadership of the association is not likely to.
President, NARD, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, told The Guardian late evening yesterday: “As we speak, we just finished a very long meeting with representatives of Federal Government. We signed agreements on how to address the issues. They have made assurances and given deadlines on when to meet our demands. But nothing is concrete yet. Our demands have not been met.
“We are taking their promises to our congress, for our members to decide. The meeting is likely to end before 8.30pm on Thursday. From the feelers on ground, it is unlikely that the congress will approve suggestions to call off the strike. I can tell you, it is unlikely that we will call off the strike. But nothing is impossible.
“We have signed agreements in the past that were not kept. But we keep our fingers crossed. We hope to resolve the issues as soon as possible and probably suspend the strike.”
IN an attempt to avert the nationwide strike, which commenced yesterday, the Federal Government had earlier on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Action (MoA) with NARD.
The agreement was signed at midnight on Wednesday after a marathon meeting between the government team and the leadership of NARD at the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.
The meeting, which lasted seven hours, deliberated on the issues raised by the aggrieved doctors in their Notice of Trade Dispute, including the non-payment of salaries of some house officers.
MEANWHILE, medical activities were paralysed at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku, Ozalla, Enugu on Thursday as resident doctors joined their counterparts nationwide to protest non-implementation of their welfare packages.
The Guardian, on a visit the hospital at noon, discovered that none of the resident doctors reported for work. Medical consultants, who had also started discharging patients, whose cases were not too serious, handled the clinics.
A consultant, who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity, stated: “I cannot admit any emergency case at the moment. Everywhere is grounded. The resident doctors did not come to work today. They are on strike. I am the only one in the whole of this department.”