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Doctors
strike cripples Lagos hospitals
… Consultants render skeletal services
… AGPMPN condemns strike
By AZOMA CHIKWE and THERESA ONWUGHALU
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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Photo:
Sun News Publishing |
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Activities in Lagos State owned hospitals have been grounded
by the on-going industrial action by Lagos State Medical Guild
Executives. A visit by Daily Sun to Lagos
State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, General
Hospital, Lagos Island and Gbagada General Hospital, among
others showed that most of the state employed doctors have
joined the strike thereby grinding clinical activities in
these hospitals to a halt.
Presently, the skeletal medical services undertaken in the
hospitals are being done by consultants and Head of Departments
whose efforts are not enough to carry the weight of patients
seeking treatment.
Due to the slow pace of work necessitated by the strike, patients
are being turned back, while few out-patients and those already
on admission before the strike are receiving skeletal services.
Nurses and other para-medical professions could not function
optimally due to the vacuum created by the striking doctors.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has positioned security
operatives in the hospitals to ensure that saboteurs do not
hijack the situation and that the situation do not get out
of hand.
Efforts to get the Chief Medical Directors and Public Relations
Officers of the hospitals to comment on the strike proved
abortive.
According to a source who spoke with Daily Sun, “if
the strike is not resolved in a few days, the mortuaries will
overflow with corpses.”
Meanwhile the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners
of Nigeria (AGPMPN) Lagos State chapter has appealed to their
colleagues in the Guild to have a rethink and give the negotiating
group some time to complete dialogue with the government.
Briefing the press, Lagos AGPMPN Chairman, Dr. Anthony Omolola,
stated that the group is aware of the negotiating group led
by the Elders Forum of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA),
Lagos State and some concerned senior citizens of the state
dialoguing with the state government on behalf of the Guild
to reasonably meet their demands.
According to him, “as the chairman of AGPMPN Lagos State,
I believed that our primary calling as doctors is to safeguard
lives of those who come to us for medical help. As such, we
should regard this as sacrosanct. However, whenever there
are issues in dispute, we should be very patient to exhaust
all possible avenue of resolving matters. This is of critical
importance especially in a democratic environment where the
processes are rather very tortuous.
“Our association is aware of health reforms going on
in Lagos and we believe these reforms will impact positively
on the citizens of Lagos State. In the process of implementing
these reforms, we know some challenges will come up and we
believe that this government, led by Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola
has the capacity to deal effectively with these challenges,”
he said.
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