UCH, UNIOSUN teaching hospital resident doctors join nationwide strike

FG has disbursed N43.3bn to doctors, ministry claims

Resident doctors at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and the University of Osun Teaching Hospital (UTH) on Saturday joined the nationwide strike as directed by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

The association had earlier announced it would embark on a nationwide strike on November 1, citing the Federal Government’s failure to meet its long-standing demands.

The association is demanding a 200 per cent increase in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS). This is in addition to the demand for the full implementation of new allowances proposed since July 2022 and the immediate recruitment of clinical staff.

NARD had also been calling for the removal of bureaucratic bottlenecks delaying the replacement of existing doctors, among other issues.

However, the president of the UCH chapter of the association, Dr. Gboyega Ajibola, said on Saturday that all resident doctors, medical officers, and house officers of UCH were in full compliance.

“At 12 midnight today, we fully complied with that. If you enter UCH now, you will note that our members are not working as directed by NARD.

“The strike is total and comprehensive; no corridors of emergency will be left open at all in this strike action. UCH, as a foundational member of NARD, holds leadership fortitude in NARD.

“All our officers unanimously decided to start the strike today,” he said.

Regarding the anticipated effects of the strike, the president emphasised that patients would not be able to receive specialist care as they should.

According to him, UCH provides intensive specialist care and multidisciplinary management to patients, which can be very hard to get in the private sector.

“Also, when patients go to the private sector, the care they receive is more expensive than what applies in government hospitals.

“The revenue of the hospital is going to decrease; though the consultants are working, the ARD constitutes about 80 per cent of the medical doctors’ workforce.

“So, the rate of admission, surgery, and the number of patients you will see in clinics will reduce,” he said.

Also, resident doctors in UTH on Saturday stopped attending to patients at the state teaching hospital, Osogbo.

Dr. Phillip Ajibade, president of the association in the state, said that the strike was in compliance with the directive of the national president of NARD.

“ARD UTH Osogbo is an affiliate of NARD, and we have complied. What NARD is demanding from the Federal Government and fighting for equally affects us too as doctors,” he said.

In response to the industrial action, the Federal Government says it has disbursed N43.3 billion to doctors across the country as part of its ongoing efforts to settle arrears, strengthen the health workforce, and maintain industrial harmony in the health sector, the Federal Ministry of Health has claimed.

In a statement signed by Alaba Balogun, Deputy Director and Head of Information and Public Relations at the ministry, the government reaffirmed its commitment to prioritising the welfare of doctors as the foundation of its reform agenda.

“The welfare, motivation, and stability of our health workforce remain the bedrock upon which all health policies, strategies, and actions are built,” the stateme