ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
No fewer than 150 Resident Doctors at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, have joined the indefinite nationwide strike of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
The President of NARD, ATBUTH, Chapter, Dr. Nur Algazali, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Bauchi on Monday.
Dr. Algazali who said that although the strike was regrettable but necessary, added that it was to press home their demands for a better working condition.
He said: “All we are saying is that, the federal government should take care of those who take care and offer medical services to the people.
“We have bills to pay, like school fees of our children, we have to feed our families, and a whole lot of issues, we need better welfare and working environment.
“How can you work when your salary hasn’t been paid for some months and you have worked?
“We appeal to the people to understand that we are not doing this to cause pain to them or their loved ones but we want a better working condition so that we can care for them effectively and adequately.”
Another Resident Doctor, Dr. Sani Kabir, said the strike which began 8am on Monday is total and indefinite with all their members complying.
Kabir, who is the immediate past President of the ATBUTH chapter, said: “As a chapter, we have joined the strike totally and indefinitely.
“One of the most important issues we have is that some of our members have stayed for many months without salaries ranging from two months to 19 months without salary.
“Another issue is our medical residency fund in, we are supposed to be given allowances every year. Last year, we had to struggle before it was paid.
“This year, it wasn’t paid, we struggled again and they told us that it is in the supplementary budget, the supplementary budget has been passed but they are telling us a different story.
“We are very concerned about the plight the of the citizens and the impact this strike will have on the health sector and that was why we gave the government over four months notice and mind you, this is a resumption of a suspended strike.”
Our correspondent who visited the ATBU Teaching Hospital Bauchi, observed that medical activities in the hospital have been partially paralyzed as patients and their relatives were left stranded following the industrial action.
Some patients’ relatives who are still on admission, lamented that the strike has affected them negatively as doctors are yet to attend to them while some said nurses are attending to them.
Some patients were discharged as a result of the development to either go home or go to other hospitals where they will get medical attention.
A resident of Bauchi metropolis, Bala Musa, said his wife who had been sick since last week Friday was taken to the Teaching Hospital in a critical condition.
He called on the federal government to urgently settle the issues of the Resident Doctors so that the masses will not suffer.
A relative of a patient still on admission at the in the hospital who refused to give her name, said her daughter had been operated upon.
She said that they woke up today (Monday) only to be told that Resident Doctors had embarked on an indefinite strike.
She said: “This indefinite strike by the doctors, may Allah cause its end because it is not a good development. My daughter underwent a surgery last week Friday and this morning we woke up to hear of the doctors’ indefinite strike.
She lamented that the strike has really affected them and other patients because “just few hours after this strike began, a lot of patients have left the hospital to other hospitals with their relatives, while some are insisting that they want to be discharged also since doctors have gone on strike.
“I call on the government to immediately intervene and I plead with them to meet urgently with the doctors and resolve their differences for the interest of the common man who is always at the receiving end. The two parties should always be patient,” she pleaded.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply