Monday, 25 August 2014

Strike: Patients crowd hospitals as doctors resume


Most hospitals in the Federal capital Territory on Monday witnessed a huge turnout of patients following the suspension of the strike
by the Nigerian Medical Association.
The hospital visited by the News Agency of Nigeria included the National Hospital, Asokoro, and Maitama General Hospitals.
Secretary of Asokoro General Hospital, Alhaji Iliyasu Mohammed, told NAN that all the doctors resumed work as directed by the association.
“As you can see the doctors are working, attending to patients, it is a welcome development and the patients are happy.
Dr. Ohida Onimisi, a resident doctor from the Department of Family Medicine, said he resumed by 8am and had seen lots of patients.
Onimisi, who said he was also on call duty, said that all the resident doctors had resumed work based on a directive by the association.
On the issue of the sack, he said the Senate President had promised them that the Federal Government would reverse the decision.
“We had meeting with the senate president and he told us that the government had agreed to reverse the decision on the sack of resident doctors.
“We have lot of trust in him, so we believe what he told us,” Onimisi said.
The doctors said even when they were on strike, most of them felt like coming to see their patients due to the love they had for them.
At the Maitama General Hospital, doctors were attending to the patient but declined comments.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tayo Haastrup, the spokesperson, National Hospital, Abuja, told NAN that doctors had resumed work at the hospital except the resident doctors.
Haastrup said they were yet to resume because government suspended residency programme during the strike.
“We pray everything will be resolved soon to enable them to fully come back to work,” Haastrup said.
NAN recalls that on August 14, the Federal Government announced the suspension of the Residency Training Programme in Federal Government Hospitals pending the conclusion of the ongoing appraisal of the challenges in the health sector.

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