Consultant Doctors have continued to offer skeletal services in tertiary health institutions in Enugu state as the strike action embarked on by the Association of the Resident Doctors (ARD) persisted.
A NAN Correspondent visited some of the health institutions in the state Tuesday, reporting that the strike, which has entered seventh day, has taken its toll on patients.
It was observed that medical attention had dwindled at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Parklane and the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, respectively.
Many patients, who could come from home for their treatments had been discharged, while those in unstable condition were still on admission at the respective hospital.
Some of the relatives of the patients on admission expressed concerns about the lack of adequate care given to their sick ones.
A patient at ESUTH, Mr Maxwell Ojiakor, said the attention he had been receiving for some days had fell short of expectations.
“It takes longer for the few senior doctors to go round the wards and come to attend to us daily. Getting their attention personally is not that easy,” Ojiakor said.
Dr Ngozichukwu Unaogu, Head of Clinic Services, at the neuropsychiatric hospital, told NAN that the consultant doctors had been up and doing in meeting the daily medical service demand of the hospital.
Unaogu said that the consultant doctors had taken over the work of the resident doctors, but they were overstretched.
“We daily attend to the patients in the hospital, picking and attending to emergency calls but we are already overstretched and overworked as we stay from early morning till late evening,” she said.
In his view, Dr Ferguson Mbachu, President of ARD at the neuropsychiatric hospital, called on Nigerians to impress on the federal and some state governments not to implement their proposed “no work, no pay” initiative.
“We have gone beyond that threat now. Government should meet the demands of ARD already tabled before them.
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Dr Chukwunonso Ofonere, President of ARD in ESUTH, said, following the current hyperinflation, the doctors were asking for a 200 per cent increment in their salary to be at par with the 2014 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (COMASS).
“This will also help to check the brain drain among doctors and doctors seeking greener pastures in other countries that have better monthly pay and allowance provisions,” Ofonere said.
He added that the association requested an upward review of the N5000 hazard allowance being paid to doctors.
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