FG sacks striking resident doctors

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has
directed Chief Medical Directors, CMDs, and
medical directors, MDs,
of federal
government tertiary health institutions to fill
the vacancies created by resident doctors
who have “abandoned” their training
programme.
Apparently disturbed by the directive by the
Federal Government to the various teaching
hospitals to replace the resident doctors,
the leadership of the National Association of
Resident Doctors, NARD, has agreed to
suspend its strike at a meeting with other
health sector stakeholders on Tuesday.
The Association’s leadership also appealed
to members to suspend the strike until the
next meeting scheduled for July 14.
The decision emanated from the meeting
between resident doctors and other
stakeholders, organised by the Speaker,
House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu
Dogàra in Abuja.
The meeting will reconvene in three weeks
to review progress made in the
implementation of agreements reached in
the meeting slated for July.
Resident doctors a.k.a. trainee doctors, that
constitute the main support force and
backbone for medical practice in the public
sector, embarked on a nationwide strike on
Monday, under the auspices of the National
Association of Resident Doctors, NARD.
However, according to Boade Akinola,
spokesperson of the ministry, the directive
is contained in a circular signed by Amina
Shamaki, permanent secretary of the
ministry.
The circular read: “It has come to the notice
of the management of the ministry that
some resident doctors in your establishment
have voluntarily withdrawn from the
residency training program by refusing to
report for training without authorisation.
public service rule, PSR 030402 (e) is
relevant.
“This is in spite of the ongoing negotiations
on their demands put forward by the
representatives of the National Association
of Resident Doctors (NARD) under the
auspices of the Nigerian Medical
Association.
“In view of this development, you are hereby
directed to replace all the doctors that have
withdrawn their services, with others from
the pool of applicants for the training
programs in the various disciplines in order
not to create ominous gap in training with
attendant disruption of health care delivery
in your facility.
“Meanwhile, the ministry is working with the
panel on the review of the residency training
programme in Nigeria, led by Professor Wole
Atoyebi, the registrar of the National
Postgraduate Medical College, to fast-track
the development of a comprehensive
blueprint for postgraduate training of
doctors in the country.
“Please, ensure immediate compliance.”
Former President Goodluck Jonathan sacked
16,000 resident doctors on August 14, 2014
for participating in a nationwide strike called
by its national body. The doctors were on
strike for more than six months during the
Ebola outbreak in the country. The doctors,
however, were recalled two weeks after the
directive.
In a related development, relatives of
patients at the University of Benin Teaching
Hospital, UBTH, Benin City, yesterday,
thronged the hospital to seek the discharge
of sick relatives following the death of a fire
victim, Mrs. Margaret Edobor, 65, who died
at the accident and emergency ward of the
hospital, following the ongoing nationwide
strike by resident doctors.
The late Edobor, a 65-year-old mother of
seven died from an infection at about
2:30pm on Tuesday, was said to have been
admitted a month ago but could not
continue her treatment due to the strike.
Elder brother of the deceased, Mr Sunday
Ogbewe, lamented tthat though his late
sister had responded to treatment but gave
up the ghost when she could not get
adequate care.
“She had a fire accident and she was
admitted here (UBTH). When the strike
started, there was no doctor; so, she
contracted an infection.” He also said that
all efforts by the family of the victim to
plead with the doctors to attend to her
proved abortive as they insisted that they
were on strike.