No surgeries, low revenue at UCH as NARD strike enters day 10

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Healthcare activities remain paralysed at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, as the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) strike enters its 10th day.

A visit by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to the hospital on Monday revealed that the Accident and Emergency Unit and the Out-Patient Department were deserted.NAN recalls that the UCH ARD embarked on an indefinite strike on Nov. 1, as directed by its national body, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

This followed the government’s failure to heed the resident doctors’ demands of a 200 per cent increase in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

In addition, the doctors seek the full implementation of the new allowances proposed since July 2022 and the immediate recruitment of clinical staff.

The association is also calling for the removal of bureaucratic bottlenecks that delay the replacement of existing doctors, among others.

NAN reports that the resident doctors at UCH fully complied with the directive of their national body, as none of them was seen working.

The UCH ARD President, Dr Gboyega Ajibola, told NAN that the strike has affected the hospital because it has not been admitting patients and performing surgeries.

Ajibola remarks that while consultants are working, the ARD constitutes the backbone of doctors.

“We are not admitting patients because the workforce that will ensure the management plan that is outlined is on strike; clinics are not running efficiently because the number of consultants on the ground to attend to the patients is insufficient.“It’s a pity because, obviously, surgeries cannot happen because we are the ones who do surgeries; corridors of emergencies, too, are not open because consultants don’t cover the first hand of the emergency department.

“It has also affected the patients and revenue generated by the hospital; the government should please do the needful.