The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Branch, have cried out over the non-payment of its members’ salaries by the hospital’s management in the last three months.
The association has called out to the Federal Government to come to the members’ aid to enable them end the strike, which took effect last Thursday.
Dr Adewale Oba, the hospital’s ARD President, while speaking with The Nation during a recent interview at the association’s secretariat in LUTH, Idi-Araba, said the non-payment of salaries has affected his members negatively.
According to Oba, many of the doctors could no longer take care of their basic needs due to the non-payment of salaries for September, October and November.
Head, Corporate Services, LUTH, Kelechi Otuneme, however, said the hospital’s management has engaged the Ministry of Finance and other appropriate ministries/ offices to correct the shortfall in payment of allocations, adding that efforts have reached an advanced stage to resolve it and pay outstanding salaries.
Oba however, said the association would continue with the strike.
“We never wanted to go on strike, but we have been praying that things would be resolved before it got this worse. We have tried all forms of engagement to ensure that salaries are paid but till now, it has yielded no result.
Over two weeks ago, we gave an ultimatum to LUTH management and the Federal Government, which lasted till last Wednesday. Following the ultimatum, the Congress of ARD LUTH took a decision to go on a total and indefinite strike, which began last Thursday.”
“We cannot continue to be working without getting salaries. This is unthinkable and it is discriminatory. We hope that this situation does not get out of hand because Nigerian citizens do not deserve all of this. The resident doctors are the defence for consultants because we are in training and it is expected that the training we have been given should transfer to the patients. So, if we are not working, the consultants alone cannot see the patients in LUTH because of the massive inflow of patients into the hospital.
