NASS, resident doctors to discuss strike on Friday

The National Assembly has called the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors to a meeting on Friday (tomorrow), according to Dr. Emeka Orji, the association’s president, who made the announcement on Thursday.

On Wednesday, resident doctors from 79 tertiary healthcare facilities began a five-day warning strike to make their demands clear.

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The doctors are asking for an immediate raise in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure equal to 20% of the doctors’ existing gross earnings.

The doctors demand the immediate removal of the measure that would require medical and dental graduates to perform five years of mandatory service in Nigeria before receiving full licenses to practice and the immediate large recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals.

In addition, they demand that CONMESS be put into effect right away, that the Medical resident Training Act be domesticated, and that all state governments and private tertiary health institutions that conduct any kind of resident training examine the hazard allowance.

NARD stated that work would start up again on May 22, 2022, at 8 am.

Dr. Orji stated on an Arise Television broadcast that the Federal Government had invited the doctors to a meeting.

“All we see in the media is the government negotiating with us, but nobody has called us for any negotiations other than those they are doing with other associations, not NARD,” he said.

However, outside of that, no negotiations have taken place since Monday, May 15, 2023, when our National Executive Council held an extraordinary session and declared the five-day strike that started yesterday. I only learned of the meeting that the National Assembly has called for tomorrow (May 19, 2023), just this afternoon.

The NARD President wished the administration luck in finding temporary workers to replace the striking doctors.

“The Federal Government’s prompt replacement of the clinical personnel that has departed the system is one of the main demands we have in our notice of strike, among other things. We have been claiming that there is a severe lack of personnel in our hospitals, and we lack the manpower to manage the surge in patients at hospitals across the nation.

“So, if the government, which has refused to do that, is now waking up to employ ad hoc staff as a way of resolving this issue, I wish them good luck. However, just as I have been saying, as long as they do not negotiate with good fate, the crisis in the health sector will continue, and our members are watching,” the speaker continued.

He also issued a warning that the government’s threats will cause the situation in the health sector to worsen.

They have only received threats from the government thus far, and the threats they are now issuing will only serve to intensify the current issue.

“As a result, I want to ask them once more to act morally. All they need to do to comply with our expectations and stop making threats is to demonstrate good faith and a dedication to doing so. Our demands are specific, attainable, and easy to meet. It won’t benefit anyone, he continued.

According to accounts, since the doctors started their five-day warning strike, medical services have been completely paralyzed at government hospitals across the nation.

In order to lessen the impact of the strike, hospitals were only providing minimal services, according to our correspondents who were monitoring it in various states on Wednesday.

According to hospital officials, non-striking nurses, doctors, dentists, and other healthcare professionals were overburdened.