Doctors at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu on Monday embarked upon an indefinite strike to protest the worsening conditions of service and the unwillingness of successive state government to address the situation.
The doctors under the aegis of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), OOUTH chapter, lamented that they have been overburdened with work load because of the “enormous and persistent decline in workforce”.
They said they were compelled to resort to strike action to draw attention to their plights when several meetings with both previous and current state governments became a thing of no effect.
Rising from its meeting in Sagamu, on Monday, the OOUTH’s ARD said the teaching hospital had witnessed grave reduction in its workforce, which culminated in the loss of accreditation for full training of the resident doctors.
ARD added that the reduction in workforce has also taken a serious toll on the health of few doctors still working in the teaching hospital.
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In a statement at the end of its meeting by the chapter chairman and secretary of the Association: Dr. Osikoya Oludotun and Dr. Ajose Oluwafemi respectively, ARD said its decision to embark of the industrial action became inevitable in order to force the state government to do the needful for the hospital.
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The resident doctors also accused the state government of paying lip services to their plights and condition of the hospital, particularly the manpower shortage.
They stated that they were aware of the last administration’s caveat to the Management not to exceed a certain wage bill, wondering why wages of resident doctors who had exited the system could not be freed for the employment of new doctors.
They also claimed that the workload is so enormous that it had prevented them from adequately preparing for their postgraduate examinations.
They called on the state government to immediately replace the resident doctors who had exited the system over the years, in order to prevent poor outcomes, breakdown of health of doctors as well as low morale and frosty relationships among staff of the teaching hospital.
The statement reads: “We have engaged the hospital management on many occasions without clear reprieve, since it appears to be beyond their reach.
“We have also met on several occasions with the representatives of the state government both in the previous and current administrations.
“The inertia is really disturbing: we sincerely want to take care of our patients; we don’t want poor outcomes.
“But this is already happening when the doctors are working under hectic conditions and the health of the caregivers is also seriously endangered.
“We have been forced to resort to this measure, after many notices and warnings that we cannot go on like this, in the hope that the government will wake up to the real issues.
“We are aware that the governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun had set up an administrative panel to look into the matters of the Teaching Hospital, which we hope are working on as expected but it appears their focus is on long term infrastructure, with no clear regard for the presentation discharge of health care to the citizens of Ogun state, OOUTH being the only state-owned tertiary health institution in the state.”
Abiodun apparently in reaction to the doctors’ strike has approved the immediate recruitment of resident doctors for the health institution.
Also to be recruited are nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and all other categories and cadres of healthcare professionals.
Abiodun, who made this known on Monday through his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, said the decision was sequel to the interim recommendations submitted to him by the Administrative Panel set up to look into the remote and immediate causes of the challenges facing OOUTH.
The Governor also directed that advertisement to that effect should urgently be rolled out in all Departments where manpower shortage exists, adding that that recruitment should take immediate effect.
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