The ongoing strike by resident doctors in the country may have paralysed activities in 98 per cent of government hospitals nationwide, as doctors refused to admit patients, while most of those on admission are not getting adequate attention.
While patients and their relatives were groaning in despair due to neglect, most of the hospitals had started discharging patients, with the alternative to seek medical attention from private hospitals.
Resident doctors in most of the hospitals complied fully with the strike directive from their parent body. Only medical consultants and nurses were seen offering skeletal services.
The implication is that since resident doctors offer more than 50 per cent of medical services in Federal Government-owned hospitals and health institutions, patients with critical conditions are more likely to be affected if the strike continued.
Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, President of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) said “As we speak, we just finished a very long meeting with representatives of Federal Government. We signed agreements on how to address the issues. They have made assurances and given deadlines on when to meet our demands. But nothing is concrete yet. Our demands have not been met.
“We are taking their promises to our congress, for our members to decide. The meeting is likely to end before 8.30pm on Thursday. From the feelers on ground, it is unlikely that the congress will approve suggestions to call off the strike. I can tell you, it is unlikely that we will call off the strike. But nothing is impossible.
“We have signed agreements in the past that were not kept. But we keep our fingers crossed. We hope to resolve the issues as soon as possible and probably suspend the strike,” he said.
