The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in Kaduna State have commenced an indefinite strike following the inability of the state government to meet its 21-day ultimatum on their welfare and to improve the quality of healthcare delivery system in the state.
Addressing newsmen in Kaduna, President of ARD, Dr. Joseph Natsah Jokshan, appealed to the general public to see the industrial action as the best way to address the issue of healthcare delivery system in the state following state government’s insensitivity to the plight of the people.
He explained that, “Today marks the expiration of our notice. Hence the need for this press conference in order to intimate the public and also the government on the resolve of doctors in Kaduna State to embarked on an indefinite strike since government failed to leave up to the expectation by refusal to address the issues raised in the letter served to them.
“It is important to still restate the demands became imperative since the patience and tolerance of our Doctors and their attempts to get the government to do the needful failed.
“Similarly, our union notified the government on the review of CONMESS in the federal service on 12th March 2014, this goes to further shows that the perceived 90 per cent CONMESS is no longer so on the adjusted CONMESS Scale but 59% with skipping.
“These necessitate our general dissatisfaction with the status quo and the demand for a change for the betterment of the healthcare system in the state as it relate to productivity.”
Dr. Natsah, who was not happy with the action because of the ordinary people who would be at the receiving end, called for an understanding from the people to support their efforts at making sure that healthcare system in the state is improved.
“This is the struggle we intend to see through to the end. Not because we are unaware of the implication of this action but because we are left with no other option.
“As we said in our previous press release, we are first humans tasked with a responsibility to care for the lives of the people in Kaduna State through effective and efficient health care delivery, high ethical standard and in the interest of our members.
“Unfortunately, we cannot effectively carry out these tasks in the current sorry state of our healthcare facilities,” he explained.
The demands according to him are, “Provision of adequate funding, equipping and staffing of our Hospitals in order to create a conducive working and living environment for the Medical and other health workers as well as our patients.
“Immediate payment of House Officers salaries and arrears as well as putting a mechanism in place to prevent future awe in payment of House officers’ salaries.
“Immediate and full implementation of the corrected Consolidated Medical Salary Structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the only recognised salary structure for doctors nationwide, as well as appropriate placement of medicals officers in their appropriate grade level.
“Immediate implementation of already approved funding for residency training of Kaduna State doctors in their chosen fields.
“Immediate promotion of our doctors that are due for promotion with Prompt advancement and payment of arrears in the event of delayed payment.”
He noted that “those who refuse to learn and improve will definitely one day become redundant and not relevant to the industry. They will learn the lesson in a hard and expensive way”
“There is no better time to demonstrate sound Leadership than now. We want to employed the public to join us in this struggle and charged the government to do the needful.”
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