On a day Nigeria marked its 53rd independence anniversary, resident doctors across the country began an indefinite nationwide strike over its integrated Payroll and Personal Information System agreement.
Rising from its extraordinary National Executive Council meeting at the National Hospital, Abuja, the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) on Monday, stated that the action was to protest the Federal Government’s failure to implement their agreement on Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System.
Other reasons include “the government’s failure to produce a blueprint on residency training in conjunction with the association and other stakeholders, which would consist of all aspects of residency training, including local training modules, funding and overseas attachments, among others.”
A communiqué at the end of the meeting in Kano, signed by NARD President, Dr. Jibril Abdullahi, Acting Secretary General, Dr. Udu Chijioke Udu, and Publicity/Social Secretary, Dr. Ilokanuno, lamented government’s refusal to “appropriately respond to our demands as contained in our earlier ultimatum, which effectively expires at midnight of September 30, 2013.”
Continuing, it said, “NEC further observed with dismay the failure of the Enugu State Government to implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for our members in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, (UNTH). This is in spite of the implementation of same to a selected group in the same institution. This has greatly hampered effective health service delivery and residency training.”
The body warned the Enugu government that “failure to respond positively to their demand would result in the withdrawal of services from the state, then the whole of South Eastern Nigeria and finally, nationwide.”
“All institutions already on the IPPIS platform should be retained and concerted efforts made to identify and correct factors impeding the successful implementation of IPPIS. In addition, no new health institution should be recruited until all anomalies are fully resolved,” NARD said.
Comments