Poor welfare: Ekiti doctors set to begin strike midnight Friday
The doctors under the umbrella of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMP), Ekiti State chapter, are set to down their tools beginning from midmight Friday (tomorrow).
The union, which accused the government of neglecting the state’s health sector as allegedl experienced under the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi, have given the government up till 11:59p.m on Friday to address all its concerns.
In an ultimatum addressed to the state governor, Abiodun Oyebanji, and signed by its Chairman, Alo Akinleye, and the Secretary, Olajide Abimbola, NAGGMP highlighted its challenges and demanded a prompt resolution from the government.
The ultimatum, which commenced on 8 March, followed the expiration of an initial 14-day ultimatum which started on 17 February.
The challenges identified by the doctors include: pay disparity affecting doctors among doctors in the state, inadequate workforce, and that the entry-level of newly employed doctors should be grade level 13 as it reportedly obtains in other parts of the country.
On pay disparity
The doctors’ association emphasised in the ultimatum that the singular demand of pay parity has been on the frontburner of its requests for the past three years and that committees have been set up with their reports begging for implementation. Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday, NAGGMP chairman urged the state government to resolve the problem of pay disparity affecting the doctors “under the employment of Hospital Management Board (HMB), Ministry of Health and the Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA) compared to their counterparts in federal employment”.
Mr Akinleye said the governor who has only spent a couple of months in office has not shown commitment to improving the welfare of doctors and resolving the issues that have lingered from the past administrations.
He said the governor in a meeting with the association in January approved the payment of hazard allowances which was applauded but the promise made to bridge the gap of pay disparity by 50 per cent has not been implemented, hence the reason for the ultimatum to down tools.
Inadequate workforce
Mr Akinleye noted that the problem of inadequate workforce is connected to other issues.
In the ultimatum, the association noted that “the current workforce of 66 doctors covering 22 specialist and general hospitals is grossly inadequate and the inability to attract fresh hands is a direct consequence of pay disparity”.
Explaining this, Mr Akinleye said some of the newly graduated medical students would prefer to work with the Federal Medical Centre, Ido Ekiti, to the HMD or PHCDA because of the existing pay disparity.
He further noted that the inadequate workforce is affecting the lifestyle of the available doctors as most of them spend 24 hours attending to patients every day of the week.
“Most of our members stay away mostly from their homes. I am on level 15, and I am supposed to have three to four doctors working under my supervision to carry out diagnoses and other basic assignments, but in situations when they are few hands, the workload becomes strenuous for the few available people.
“Most hospitals today are covered by one or two doctors and such doctors will be in the hospital 24/7. To even cater for their own needs would be difficult,” he said. PremiumTimes
