The President of NARD, Emeka Orji, said the association had suspended the planned nationwide protest but would review it within the next 72 hours.

The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, ESUTH-Parklane, says no fewer than four doctors leave the hospital every month for overseas.

ARD ESUTH-Parklane chapter President, Dr Chukwunonso Ofonere, who disclosed this on Thursday in a media briefing, said the demand for the replacement of the doctors on a one-to-one basis is part of the agitations behind their current nationwide strike, which entered its ninth day on Thursday.

SaharaReporters reported on Wednesday that the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors had suspended its planned nationwide protest after a closed-door meeting with principal officers of the Senate.

The government on Tuesday pleaded with the striking resident doctors to shelve their planned nationwide protest and stop the ongoing strike for the sake of Nigerians dying in hospitals across the country.

The President of NARD, Emeka Orji, said the association had suspended the planned nationwide protest but would review it within the next 72 hours.

But speaking to journalists in Enugu, the ESUT-Parklane chapter president explained that the number of doctors that left the hospital had caused a “serious shortfall” in manpower in the facility.

“A minimum of four of our colleagues leave every month and we are asking for a one-to-one replacement of the many doctors that have left the hospital for some years now,” he said. 

He said the association had continued to dialogue with the state government on the need for the one-to-one replacement for over five years to no avail.

Ofonere said, “The demand is for the improvement of healthcare delivery in the overall interest of the citizenry. This situation has led to the doctors in ESUTH being overworked daily. And, at times, one doctor works in a medical active department for close to 12 hours, especially on weekends.

“Doctors come to work in the morning and stay late in the evening. Shifts are irregular and some doctors cover close to two shifts due to the lack of replacement and insufficient manpower.”

Ofonere regretted that the unhealthy situation had adversely affected the quality of healthcare delivery due to the depletion in the number of doctors vis-a-vis the ever-growing patients’ size.

He said that the dangerous dimension of the challenge was the continuous attack on doctors in the hospital by angry relations of their patients. 

“Often, our colleagues are yelled at, harassed, intimidated and physically assaulted by relations of patients, who feel they were not getting adequate and personal attention, especially when the sickness gets worse.

“We have recorded situations where colleagues were stabbed with sharp objects by relatives, while others were threatened with dangerous weapons. A hospital is not a war zone or place for violence due to its sensitive nature and the condition of various patients within it,” Ofonere said.

The ARD president, however, noted that replacing the doctors who left the system would help to ensure adequate manpower to give quality attention to patients and also protect the doctors from public resentment.

He also said that with the current hyperinflation in the country, the doctors were asking for a 200 percent salary increment “to be at par with the 2014 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure,” being enjoyed by their counterparts in federal health institutions.

“This will also help to check the brain drain syndrome among doctors,” Ofonere said.

He described the N5,000 monthly hazard allowance to doctors in the hospital as an insult.

“Our counterparts in federal health institutions collect a minimum of N35,000 monthly. Looking at it critically, how much can we be paid to cover the clinic and pathological hazards doctors are exposed to in the course of their daily duty?”

He regretted that the state government had yet to pay the Medical Resident Training Fund, which was agreed on to help doctors update their knowledge and advancement.

“Our counterparts in federal health institutions have been enjoying the benefit of the fund but we are still left behind,” Ofonere lamented.