Patients stranded as doctors’ strike cripples FCT general hospitals

By Hussein Yahaya, Abubakar Sadiq Isah & Adam Umar   The three-day warning strike embarked upon by the doctors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday paralysed activities at the FCTA-owned general hospitals. Abuja Metro reports that the strike is coming when health workers in primary health centres across the area councils have also been […]

By Hussein Yahaya, Abubakar Sadiq Isah & Adam Umar

 

The three-day warning strike embarked upon by the doctors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday paralysed activities at the FCTA-owned general hospitals.

Abuja Metro reports that the strike is coming when health workers in primary health centres across the area councils have also been on strike over unpaid new minimum wage and other allowances by the area councils’ chairmen.

Abuja Metro reports that the Association of Residents Doctors in the territory had announced the plan to go on the warning strike, starting from 8 am yesterday, following an emergency congress meeting that took place at the Asokoro General Hospital on Monday.

The congress was called over the sack of 127 health workers by the FCT Civil Service Commission on Friday, allegedly without due diligence.

Abuja Metro reports that patients, who visited the hospitals yesterday turned back disappointed as the resident doctors complied with the warning strike’ directive.

Our reporters who visited some of the hospitals, located in Maitama and Asokoro in the city centre, as well as the general hospital in Kubwa, reports that only those with critical condition were being attended to by the consultant doctors who were not part of the exercise.

The consultant doctors were seen operating around the Accident and Emergency Department of the hospitals with few of them visiting wards to attend to those on admission.

Abuja Metro observed at both hospitals that many patients who were waiting at the consulting rooms and reception for doctors were not attended to.

A patient, Rebecca Daniel, who visited Kubwa General Hospital from Dei-Dei, lamented that, ‘’I don’t know where to go from there. The health centre located in my community, has been on strike for over one month now.’’

Another patient, Abdullahi Bello, who was accompanied by a relative, was seen at the emergency section of the hospital waiting patiently for a doctor with no success, as at the time when our reporter left the facility.

At the Asokoro District Hospital in the city centre, the visitors were seen waiting around the reception wing leading to the consultation rooms.

The patients refused to leave even when they were told that no doctor was at the hospital, except those on consultancy.

 

 

Nurses offer skeletal services

Abuja Metro visited both the general hospitals in Abaji and Kwali and observed that only nurses were seen on duty attending to patients with minor cases.

At the emergency unit of the Abaji General Hospital, nurses were offering skeletal services to accident victims and patients, who came for checkup.

The nurses were also seen at both the male and female wards of the hospital attending to the few patients on admission.

Abuja Metro also visited the paediatric ward of the hospital, where nurses were also seen attending to the patients including the pregnant women.

A nurse, who spoke with our reporter, on condition of anonymity, said the doctors did not come because they were on a 3-day warning strike.

She said patients with complicated cases were being referred to private hospitals because of the absence of the doctors.

She said, “Even a woman who came this morning with her daughter for an operation was almost being sent back before a doctor we reached out to volunteer to carry out the operation.”

It was also observed as many patients went to the laboratory section of the hospital for tests, while some pregnant women who went for ante-natal were seen being attended to by the nurses.

At Kwali General Hospital, nurses were also seen attending to some patients with minor cases.

One of our reporters who went round the wards, reports that most of the beds were empty with only few patients on admission.

The situation was also the same at Kuje General Hospital when Abuja Metro visited as only nurses were seen attending to patients.

Few patients were seen on admission in both male and female wards.

The mother of one of the patients at the hospital, Mrs Gladys Danjuma, said she brought her daughter, who has been suffering from illness for a while now, but was told that there was no doctor on ground to attend to her.

“It was one of the nurses who later checked my daughter and prescribed some drugs for her,” she said.

 

The doctors’ demands

Dr. George Ebong, President of the Association of Residents Doctors in the FCT, threatened that the association would embark on an indefinite strike if their requests were not answered after the warning.

He said the strike became necessary as 127 health workers were sacked by the FCT Civil Service Commission last Friday without due diligence.

He described their sack as inhumane and illegal, demanding their immediate reinstatement and onward payment of their April salaries.

George said the doctors are demanding for the immediate reinstatement of the affected staff, that include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and lab scientists and also pay them their April salary before the warning strike elapses on Friday.

They are also demanding the sack of the chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Dr. Emeka Eze.