Resident doctors give 10-day strike notice to UCH management

Barely one month after their nationwide strike, the resident doctors at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, on Friday, gave the hospital management another 10-day strike notice to protest unpaid salaries, among other issues.

The doctors demands include employment of more resident doctors payment of outstanding salaries dating back to 2014, update courses and examination refunds, rehabilitation of house officers’ dilapidated residences and migration to IPPIS.

Dr Segun Olaopa, president of the UCH branch of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), at a news briefing said if these issues are not addressed, they will be left with no other choice but to proceed on indefinite strike.

He said despite the association’s dialogue with the hospital management on many occasions, there had been no satisfactory response.

“we have tried to show restrains despite all provocations to avoid issues, but it appears that diplomacy in our setting does not seem to yield much fruits.

“Our salaries had been released by the FG for over two weeks but due to deliberate act of the hospital, officers and management, these salaries have not been paid till date.

“Resident doctors at the hospital got 72 per cent of their salaries in August and we have been on the issue of shortfall in salaries since last year.  It is no more acceptable that UCH will be paying resident doctors fractions of their salary.

“The issue of employment of resident doctors has been a recurrent one. The employment promised since early last year, we are afraid they might even push to next year.

“At present, the number of residents stands at 525; this has reduced to 454. The implication of this is that the remaining few residents are given work overload and this should not be.

“We are giving them the next 10 days to resolve all these issues holistically, without which we will proceed on a total and indefinite strike action. This is supposed to be a declaration of notice of strike which is going to commence in the next 10days.