Ondo Doctors On A 14-day Warning Strike Over Unpaid Salary Arrears

THE non-payment of the new members' salary for the first seven months has prompted the Association of Resident Doctors at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, UNIMEDTH ARD, Ondo State, to go on a 14-day warning strike.

Association members threatened to stop operations at the government-owned medical institution if their demands were not fulfilled during a demonstration they organized on the facility's grounds on Tuesday, April 2.

Dr. John Matthew, the association's president, bemoaned during the demonstration that their members had not yet received their benefits.

He enumerated additional reasons for the warning strike, such as the lack of palliative care for house officers since February, the failure to pay the February hazard allowance despite the state government's pledge to pay for two months, and the staff shortage brought on by the departure of doctors from the facility.

A few months ago, the association had 150 members; now, Matthew bemoaned the fact that just 26 members were still hospitalized.

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He declared, “We demand full payment of the arrears of salaries owed our members and payment of February 2024 palliative to our house officers.

“Management should pay February hazard allowance to our members and urgently address the severe clinical manpower shortage in the institution. Our members work every day. There are no staff members due to Japa syndrome.

The state government has been urged to address the issue of a scarcity of resident physicians in state-owned hospitals by the state chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association.

Following its meeting, the organization noted in a communiqué released by Dr. Omosehin Adeyemi-Osowe, the state chairman, that many of the state's doctors had gone for better opportunities elsewhere in Nigeria, while some of the remaining doctors had moved to other states.

The statement said, “There is dire shortage of health personnel in the state. Doctors have refused to take up employment with the Ondo State Government.

“It was also observed that numerous doctors within the Ondo State Civil Service left for greener pastures locally (neighbouring states such as Osun, Lagos, Ekiti, Kwara, Delta) and internationally, African Countries: Sierra Leone, Gambia, South Africa, etc and outside the continent: United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, etc.

“As of the time of writing this communiqué, there are only 22 resident doctors at UNIMEDTHC compared to the previous figure of 150 resident doctors.”