Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The President, National Association of Residents Doctors (NARD), Oyo State, Dr. Adedayo Williams, on Tuesday said there is a total compliance by members of the association with the ongoing nationwide strike.
Speaking with journalists in Ibadan, he made it known that some patients in critical conditions that were admitted before the commencement of the strike were still beING given attention.
According to him, “Our aim was not to endanger the lives of our patients, but we don’t want government to play games with us because a frustrated doctor will not able to concentrate and likely an unstable doctor is even more dangerous that leaving a patient uncared for. The principles of medicine is, you either leave the patients how they are or you do no harm.”
Williams, however, vowed that there is no going back on the ongoing nationwide strike, until the Federal Government met their demands, adding that though a meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday September 9, 2020 between representatives of the government and the association, NARD would not call off the strike on a promissory note. He noted that some of their demands were met after the last agitation, saying that there is need for the goverment to dialogue with resident doctors and sort things out.
The demands, according to him, include provision of genuine group life insurance and death in service benefit for all workers, immediate payment of the Medical Residency Training funding to all her members as approved in the reversed 2020 budget, immediate payment of the outstanding April/May and June COVID-19 inducement allowance to all health workers, determination of the revised hazard allowance for all health workers as agreed in previous meetings with relevant stakeholders.
Williams also listed as part of the demands, “immediate payment of the salary shortfalls of 2014, 2015 and 2016, doctors working under the various tertiary institutions should be placed on appropriate salary grade level and universal implementation of the Medical Residency Training Act of 2017 in all state tertiary institutions, and payment of all arrears owed our members in federal and state tertiary health institutions, arising from consequential adjustments of the national minimum wages.”