Activities largely came to a standstill Thursday at public hospitals in the Ogun state capital due to the strike of the Nigerian Association of Resident Physicians (NARD) went into effect in the state.
When our correspondent visited the Federal Medical Center and the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, both in Abeokuta, he noticed that the resident doctors were fully complying with the directive of their national association.
The president of NARD at Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Odubakun Kazeem, said resident doctors were not treating patients at the facility.
He said the strike would continue until the government meets his demands.
“I can confirm that we are fully complying. The strike is avoidable because most of the problems have been going on for a long time. We have always demanded that the right things be done, but the government is not doing its part,” Mr. Kazeem told our correspondent.
At the Federal Medical Center, only senior doctors or consultants cared for some patients with rare medical eyesight in the wards.
There were fewer cars than usual in the parking lots at the FMC and OOUTH, an indication that many doctors did not show up for work.
Context
The five-day warning strike, which began Wednesday, was called by resident doctors to demand the federal government make the work environment conducive to doctors.
Labor and Employment Minister Chris Ngige had previously warned against the strike, but doctors ignored the warning.
In an interview with Newslodge, the president of NARD at the Federal Medical Center, Abeokuta, Osundara Tope, said that the resident doctors had left caring for the patients.
“We have turned patient care over to consultants and nurses are in the wards to assist them as well. Some of them may want to refer, while others may want to manage the patients on their own. So for some of these patients, I’ll just recommend that they can always reach out to the consultants on the ward and see what can be done.”
efforts
A patient who identified herself simply as Adeola was seen moving slowly with the help of her carer, Michael, outside a ward. Barely audible, she said that she could no longer stay in the hospital.
“I can’t keep staying here. With what I’ve seen since yesterday, I don’t think things can improve anytime soon. The doctors were never enough for the number of patients, but now they are nowhere to be found,” she said.