•Ngige threatens no work no pay
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
There were skeletal services at public health facilities across the country, yesterday, as medical doctors, under the umbrella of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), began their five-days nationwide warning strike.
The decision to down tools was taken at the end of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting earlier in the week, following the inability of the Federal Government to attend to their needs, most of which bordered on welfare.
In Abuja, while some of the doctors promised to adopt telemedicine system for some of their patients, others said they would stay away from hospitals until the end of the action.
Daily Sun visited some of the public hospitals and found patients expressing frustrations over the action of the doctors saying they were taken unawares by their sudden withdrawal of professional services.
It was learnt that some of the patients, with the wherewithal, had moved out of public hospitals to private hospitals following the strike.
At about 11am when Daily Sun visited the FCTA-owned Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja, most of the patients, who could not afford the cost of private hospitals, bemoaned the strike and were contemplating what steps to take to get health care services.
“The privileged ones have headed to private health care facilities for medical attention. I got a hint of what was about to happen on Monday evening, and up to Tuesday when some patients, the privileged ones, were being moved out of the hospital to private health facilities,” one of the patient said.
Another patient who identified herself as Kendra said she travelled from Keffi, Nasarawa State, to get medical services only to discover that doctors were on strike.
Another patient who simply gave her name as Zuwaira said she had an appointment with one of the doctors, but was informed the meeting would not hold because of the strike.
Former head of clinical services, Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Chidi Nnabuchi, said they were observing the situation closely.
“We will evaluate the situation each day and restrategise.”
The case was not different at National Hospital, Abuja, where confusion and frustration were conspicuously written in the faces of patients.
Spokesperson of the National Hospital, Tayo Haastrup, could not be reached to comment on measures being adopted to provide care for patients given the strike.
A source, however, said medical consultants were still attending to patients as much as they could as they were not part of the strike.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Health has said it was working assiduously to ensure the industrial dispute is resolved, and doctors return to work.
Director of Public Health, Dr. Alex Okoh, told journalists at a press briefing to mark the World Hypertension Day, in Abuja, that the ministry is concerned and had contacted relevant government agencies in a bid to ensure the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has however, has threatened to implement the “no work, no pay” policy on the striking medical doctors if they failed to shelve the strike.
Ngige admonished the doctors to use the dialogue measure and not disrupt industrial peace and harmony in the hospital system, reminding them of the implications of their actions on health care service delivery.
Speaking during a television programme, the minister said the resident doctors disregarded the efforts of the NMA.
“The resident doctors are part of NMA. They are young doctors in training. So if NMA is negotiating on their behalf as the parent body, what these young people (resident doctors) are doing is disrespecting the NMA. They are crying wolf when there is none.”
On Tuesday, the minister said the NMA was holding talks with the ministry of health, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the presidential committee on salaries, on a pay rise for doctors.
He had advised the doctors to give room for dialogue, adding that the warning strike action is “unknown to the law”.
He warned that the health minister would instruct teaching hospitals to employ ad-hoc staff while the warning strike lasts — and pay them with the money meant for the striking doctors.