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Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has directed the Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Managing Directors (MDs) of federal tertiary hospitals to quickly replace the striking resident doctors with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) doctors to provide routine medical services to patients.
The Minister, in a statement, released in Abuja, on Wednesday, said the decision was to ensure uninterrupted medical services at the hospitals, pending the resolution of industrial issues between the striking resident doctors and Federal Government.
The Minister reminded the doctors that their primary duty as doctors and all health workers is to save lives, and embarking on a strike at this time that the country is battling with the COVlD-19 pandemic is ill-timed and ill-advised.
He added: “It’s a critical time in which all well-meaning medical professionals should close ranks and confront the common enemy, which is the COVlD-I9 pandemic threatening mankind.
“The Federal Ministry of Health finds it necessary to ensure measures are put in place to mitigate the effect of this strike on the generality of our populace by directing the CMDs/MDs of federal tertiary hospitals to ensure that COVlD-19 treatment outlets continue to function.
“Ensure that emergency services continue to run as before, while routine services should be maintained with Consultants, NYSC Doctors. Locum staffers should be brought in when and where necessary to forestall services disruption when applicable and affordable.”
He, thus appealed to the resident doctors to return to work and engage the Federal Government in completing the ongoing due process of implementing the MoU between NARD and government.
He assured the public that measures have been put in place to ensure that they continue to access services at all our federal tertiary hospitals across the country.
Recall that medical doctors under the umbrella of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), on Monday, embarked on indefinite strike over unfair labour treatment by the Federal Government.
