Members of the National Association of Resident Doctors, Rivers State University Teaching Hospital chapter, have lauded the efforts, policies and laudable projects embarked upon by the state government towards improving healthcare delivery in the state.

The association also noted with happiness and excitement, the elevation of the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, to a teaching hospital by the state government, saying that the far-reaching effect of the elevation of the hospital would have positive impact in the areas of manpower development and capacity upgrade for personnel in the health sector.

They further that the policy would create enabling environment for the care of patients with wide range of complex medical conditions.

The President of NARD, Rivers State University Teaching Hospital chapter, Dr George Matthew Ela, stated this during a media briefing of the new executive held at the conference room of the state university teaching hospital in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

He averred that the state-of-the-art Mother and Child Hospital built by the state government would offer women and children a unique opportunity to receive first-class medicare, which can be found in any part of the world, and also help reduce maternal, prenatal and infant mortality rates in the state.

“The ongoing massive renovation work and upgrade of the hospital’s facilities to meet international standards will promote the quality of service delivery. The rebuilding of the junior doctors’ quarters, which also houses resident doctors’ call rooms, is noteworthy. However, we are calling on the contractor handling these projects to increase the pace of work so as to ensure their speedy completion and commissioning,” he stated.

Ela used the opportunity to call on the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to urgently begin the process to fast-track the process of domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act (MRTA) through sending an executive bill to the state House of Assembly for consideration and passage into law.

He argued that the Act, which was signed into law by the president in 2018, was the roadmap to residency training programme in the country as it would largely help to stem the tide of brain drain in the medical sector in the state.

Ela further called on the state government to properly place doctors on CONMESS3 Salary Structure, saying that the state remains the only state in the South-South that was yet to implement the scheme.

According to him, “Doctors are yet to be promoted for the past 6 to 8 years. Again, we are appealing to the state government to ensure the accreditation of all unaccredited departments of the hospital with the National Post-Graduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPGMCN) and the West African College of Surgeons (WACS).

“The planned employment of 5,000 youths, of which healthcare staff are part of, including resident doctors, is a welcome development. We commend the state government for the move, and pray it will soon be a reality as this will ameliorate the burden placed on an already overstretched workforce in the state,” he stated.

On the Covid-19 pandemic, he disclosed that the state has not lost any medical doctor.

He, however, urged residents of the state to observe all Covid-19 protocols as stipulated by the state government, adding that the pandemic was real even as he assured that members of the association were posed to render effective healthcare service delivery in the state.

“We are bringing good tidings to the people of the state that resident doctors are ready to provide sufficient healthcare services as we do not expect any strike this year”, he added.