For the umpteenth time, doctors in hospitals nationwide have downed tools. Woman Editor, TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE, examines the impact on patients
Samson Ojedele is an octogenarian and an outpatient in the Ophthalmology Department in University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. His check-up appointment date was on Thursday, July 3. His son, a staff of UCH, called him up early that morning not to bother leaving his house since the strike was still on.
But Grace Olayomi, who resides in Egbeda, Lagos, was not as lucky, as the information got to her late. She had already left for the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, on Monday, July 7, for her child’s appointment. Upon finding out that the doctors were on strike, the distraught mother could not hide her anger at the ugly development. She wondered why the state government-employed medical doctors have also embarked on the strike by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) like their colleagues at the federal level.
All these are happening despite the promise of Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, that the doctors’ strike, which began on July 1, would be called off on Monday, July 7. A visit to major hospitals shows that the minister’s promise has remained a ruse as far as patients’ sufferings are concerned.
Accident and Emergency (A and E) units of many hospitals have remained shut, according to TheNiche investigation. The paediatric wards, out-patient department (OPD), laboratory and oncology unit were met deserted when our reporter visited. The lobbies leading to all the wards witnessed less feet walking through them.
The few people seen in the hospital premises were other health workers like the nurses, pharmacists, drug dispensers, cleaners and security personnel.
Relatives of patients, who hitherto had been advised to take their own away, have complied by either taking their sick to private hospitals or traditional healing centres. For those who could not, nurses are trying their best to ameliorate the situation. However, the absence of the doctors remains a huge setback, as many do not really have faith in nurses’ capabilities, especially in diagnosis.
Already, there are reports of patients dying as a result of the absence of doctors to attend to them. Two patients were reported to have died at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, , and a third victim died at the Ekpan General Hospital in Uvwie Local Government Area, both in Delta State.
From Lagos to Ibadan, Benin to Abuja and every nook and cranny of the country, the strike is biting hard and the patients are bearing the brunt.
However, private hospitals are making brisk business. Facilities at R-Jolad Hospital in Gbagada, Lagos, were stretched beyond limits during the week, as patients resort to the private hospital for treatment.
Doctors’ grouse
The doctors’ demands are, among others: the continuation of the circular creating five offices of the Deputy Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC) for teaching hospitals; grade level 12 (CONMESS 2) in the health sector must be skipped for medical doctors; the title consultant must only be used by doctors in the health sector; immediate implementation of the January 3 circular; immediate adjustment of the doctors’ salary to maintain the relativity; the passage of the National Health Bill (NHB); immediate appointment of Surgeon General of the Federation; the entry point of the House Officer should be corrected to CONMESS 1 step 4; clinical duty allowance for honorary consultants should be increased by 90 per cent of CONMESS; hazard allowance must be at least N100,000 per month for doctors; immediate release of the circular on rural posting, teaching and other allowances which must include house officers.
These demands have however pitted doctors against the federal government and other professionals in the sector who see them as overbearing.
Stakeholders react
While the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Dr. Godswill Okara, wonders what the NMA is out to achieve with its incessant strikes, National President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Olumide Akintayo, is of the opinion that NMA and its hierarchy should familiarise with global best practices, especially as preached in the World Medical Association ethics manuals.
He, however, urged government to keep faith with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and agreements at its parley of June 5, 2014, which the NMA is apparently reacting to.
“We insist that government has only restored relativity in the CONHESS and CONMESS scale in perfect tandem with the 2009 collective bargaining agreements by adjusting equivalent scales on the CONHESS scale like it was done with the CONMESS scale on January 2, 2014. Any insinuation that suggests a violation in the light of this development is a misnomer, which we shall resist and refuse to condone.”
Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Dr. Roger Makanjuola, believes, like other professionals in the health sector, that the action of the doctors is unethical. “The Code stipulates that no patient can be abandoned in the midst of his or her treatment. A striking doctor must make arrangements to hand over the continued care of his patients before he leaves his post. Also, provision must be made for the continued provision of services for accident and emergencies and the care of those with serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions.”
Ironically, NMA President, Dr. Kayode Obembe, insists that contrary to the notion held by many Nigerians that doctors are insensitive to the plight of their patients, the association is made up of people who feel the plight of Nigerians and laid the blame for recurring strikes in the sector at the doorstep of the federal government, who he accused of “pushing the association to the wall”.
“If government keeps its own side of the bargain, there will be no strike in the foreseeable future,” he added.
Similarly, Lagos NMA chairman, Dr. Francis Faduyile, said: “The definition of a ‘consultant’ in medical profession is different from what they called consultant. A consultant in a hospital setting acts as a bond between a doctor and his patient. If anything happens to the patient, it is the consultant who takes responsibility because he supervises the treatment of the patient and as such assumes full responsibility. So, how would their kind of consultant improve the lives of the patients? It will only create chaos in the sector.”
While consultations are on-going, observers however wonder how long the strike would last, as these demands seem unachievable. Some have also concluded that while these elephants (government and doctors) fight lasts, the grass (patients) might continue to suffer.