Resident Doctors at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) have embarked on an indefinite strike.
The decision to embark on strike was reached at their meeting held on Monday 2nd of September, 2019.
According to the resolution signed by Osikoya Oludotun and Ajose Oluwafemi, the chairman and secretary of the association, the strike was necessary due to the ”enormous persistent decline in workforce”,
The medical practitioners aired their distress on the reduction in workforce which has taken a toll on the health of few doctors. The decreasing number of doctors has led to loss of accreditation for comprehensive training of resident doctors.
They revealed that they were aware of the last administration’s stance on the management of OOUTH not to exceed a certain wage bill, and also wondering why the wages of resident doctors, who had exited the system could not be used for the employment of new doctors.
The statement noted that the patient load over the years without a commensurate number of resident doctors, had prevented doctors from preparing adequately for their postgraduate examinations and the training of younger doctors and medical students.
The doctors claims to resort to indefinite strike, as several meetings with the previous and current administrations in the state to address the issue failed to yield any positive response. In their plea to better the working conditions, the union demands that the state government should replace vacant positions of resident doctors.
Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors said this would avert poor outcomes, breakdown of health of doctors, low morale and uncordial relationships among the staff of the teaching hospital.
