The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, says it will embark on an indefinite strike over abysmal shortage of doctors, insecurity, and poor sponsorship of the residency programme
The doctors said that the indefinite strike would commence on January 31, 2024, after seven weeks of notice in which its earlier third series of notifications of an ultimatum to the Enugu state government to do the needful and meet its demands failed.
This is contained in a communiqué issued on Monday, January 22, after the end of the Emergency General Meeting (EGM) of ARD in ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, held on Saturday, December 8, 2023.
It said that the EGM observed with regret the silence from the management of the hospital on the 14-day ultimatum issued and another 49 days of grace following the ultimatum expiration for it to meet the demands of the association.
The statement said the management of ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane and the Enugu state government had failed to declare a state of emergency on the employment of doctors and safety and security within the hospital.
According to the statement, the EGM observed that it has been over 180 days since the government, through the Secretary to the State Government, promised the ARD the employment of medical officers and resident doctors and the payment of medical Residency Training Funds (MRTF), lamenting that they have yet to see the employment of new doctors.
It said that the EGM noted that the security men placed at the gate are no longer there and direct daily assault on doctors has increased again, while the safety of doctors and other health workers in the hospital cannot be guaranteed.
“The management should declare a state of emergency on the employment of doctors in the hospital. There should be urgent approval for the recruitment of medical officers, resident doctors, and house officers in the hospital.
“This recruitment should be focused especially at the Accident and Emergency Department, Surgery Department, Internal Medicine Department, Pediatrics Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Departments, etc. Resident Doctors that have left our institution in the past four years have never been replaced.
“Management should ensure the implementation of safety policies to protect her workers against physical attacks and kidnappings by restoring the daily police and other covert security personnel deployed to the hospital.
“The 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) has not been paid, and exam bodies are closing their adverts.”
The statement added that salary increments had not been looked into at all, even as house officers were excluded from the hardship/palliative of N25,000 given by the state governor.
It stated: “We are still back to where we were in 2023, or even worse, as plans are on the way to increase the rents of those living in the hospital quarters (one bedroom apartment) by about 375 percent from N8,000 to N30,000 monthly.
“This will escalate the already palpable crises, and we will be left with no other alternatives but to protect the interests and welfare of our members.
“Jan. 31, 2024, is here already, and the doctors are mobilising for an indefinite, total, and maybe protracted industrial action if nothing is done.”
The doctors also pleaded that the state government led by Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, in his charismatic way, should intervene in this matter to avoid untold hardship and loss of life that might occur if there is a disruption in the health care delivery in Enugu State.