Doctors Begin Strike In Yenagoa

The Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (ARDM), Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa branch, has embarked on a three-day warning strike to draw attention of the relevant authorities to what they termed as irregularities in the payment of their salaries.
President of ARDN, Dr. Okoye Chukwunonso, said yesterday, that his members had been receiving 48 per cent of their salaries for the past four months.
He said information at their disposal indicated it was only in the FMC, Yenagoa, that resident doctors are being paid 48 per cent of their salaries since January, this year.
“We have been having the challenge of being paid only 48 per cent of our salaries for the past four months.
“We have tried to be patient and also showed understanding all these while but it appears nobody wants to listen to us.
“The fact is that it is affecting our members, and we do not see how we can continue to show this understanding”, he said.
Okoye said the three-day warning protest, which began on Wednesday, will end on Saturday as it is not an indefinite action.
When The Tide visited the federal health facility, consultants and nurses were seen carrying out skeletal services, yesterday.
A female resident doctor, who simply gave her name as Dr. Esther, said work at the FMC cannot be normal because “the nurses need instructions from us to also do their job effectively”.
Meanwhile, members of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) at the FMC, Yenagoa, have threatened to go on indefinite strike beginning from next Tuesday.
The state chapter Chairman, Mr. Oginike Lante, said the action followed the half payment of their salaries since January, this year.
He said though meetings had been held with the management to ascertain the reason for the shortfall, the association had made its position and demands known.