Resident doctors yet to resume work in Lagos
(Nigeria )
Five days after the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, suspended its strike,
resident doctors in the Federal Government-owned hospitals in Lagos State
have yet to resume work.
This followed the insistence of the Federal Government to
sack the resident doctors in view of their roles in the NMA’s nationwide strike
that lasted 55 days.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, had on August
13 announced the sacking of all resident doctors and stoppage of the residency
training until further notice.
Chukwu said the suspension of the residency programme would
not be lifted until the conclusion of the ongoing appraisal of the challenges
in the nation’s health sector.
Dr Omojowolo Olubunmi, the President, Association of
Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH-ARD, Chapter, said
the doctors stayed away because of government’s refusal to reinstate the sacked
doctors.
He said some resident doctors, who reported for duty were
turned back on the orders of the Chief Medical Directors, CMD of the respective
hospitals.
“The CMDs claimed that they have yet to receive circular
from the Federal Ministry of Health directing them to reverse the Federal
Government’s sacking of the doctors,” Olubunmi said.
He said resident doctors constituted majority of all doctors
in the country.
“Resident doctors constitute the majority; we are the
backbone of the nation’s healthcare system. In LUTH, we have about 500 resident
doctors and that is about 30 per cent of all healthcare workers in the
hospital.
“This has gravely affected services within the hospital
because the consultants can only render skeletal services with the help of the
house officers.
``It will further worsen the palpable state of our
healthcare delivery,” he told NAN .
Olubunmi said residency training was pivotal to the
existence and running of a teaching hospital.
He added: “Residency training is the soul of a teaching
hospital and without resident doctors there cannot be residency and no
consultants. Resident doctors are doctors undergoing postgraduate training,
they can also render specialist care to the patients.
``If you come to the teaching hospital, the first set of
doctors that you will see are the resident doctors. We also have senior
registrars that act in the place of a consultant and are involved in the
training of medical and non-medical students .”
Also speaking, Dr Ramon Kolade-Moronkola, the
Secretary-General of LUTH-ARD, said residency programme provided citizens’
access to specialists’ care.
``Residency training is a conveyor belt that ensures that
doctors eventually become specialists as consultants and this is the norm all
over the world.
``This is a norm to ensure that citizens have access to
specialists’ care.
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