LUTH doctors working despite JOHESU strike, says ARD

The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (ARD-LUTH) chapter, Idi-Araba, says its members would continue performing their duties despite the ongoing industrial action of health workers.

Moronkola Ramon, the president of ARD-LUTH, made the statement in an interview with NAN in Lagos.

On November 12, non-doctors under the aegis of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) embarked on indefinite strike to press its demands, which include the non-implementation of a welfare agreement with the federal government and recognition of health workers as consultants within the hospital.

“To set the record straight, doctors in LUTH, and other hospitals in Lagos and across the country are not on strike,” Ramon said.

“We are always at our duty posts and have been taking our calls. We are committed to the emergence of an efficient and sustainable health system for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“Our well-documented willingness to bend over backwards to deliver healthcare in the face of sometimes, daunting challenges, is evident of this commitment to the well-being of Nigerians.”

He maintained that though, that the smooth operation of the hospital had been challenged by the absence of the striking allied health workers, the doctors were still performing their duties.

“Since the commencement of JOHESU strike, the power supply has become more unreliable; consumables and equipment were locked away by the striking workers.

“However, we have been able to keep the hospital running to the best of our ability. For instance, as a senior registrar in the cardiology unit, I know the consultants and residents in the unit attend to over 50 patients during our clinic, which almost equals the number we usually see.”

Ramon, however, complained that the striking health workers had been enjoying incentives, which doctors were normally deprived of any time they embarked on strike.

“It is ironic that the striking JOHESU workers have been receiving incentives to continue their strike because they were paid December salaries well ahead of Christmas, while doctors in LUTH have not been paid,” he said.

“Perhaps, more perplexing is the fact that doctors in the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, have not received their November and December salaries.

“This unpalatable scenario is what is happening in other centres across the country. We see this paradox of no work with pay for JOHESU members, but work without pay for doctors as a grievous injustice.”

He ended by appealing to the striking health workers to call off their strike for the sake of the well-being of Nigerians.