Doctors’ strike: Patients stranded at JUTH

Patients are stranded at Jos University Teaching Hospital, JUTH, due to an indefinite strike embarked upon by resident doctors.
Though many of the patients have been discharged and others with critical conditions attended to by consultants, new patients who did not know of the ongoing strike arrived the hospital only to meet the absence of doctors.
The strike, Vanguard learned, is the result of the alleged refusal of management of JUTH to comply with the Federal Government’s directive on the implementation of “skipping” for doctors, among others grievances.



It would be recalled that Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, issued the notice of strike on June 8.
Grievances

FILE PHOTO: Patients in the hospital
The notice, signed by the Chairman of NARD, Joseph Nankat, and Secretary, Kumtap Cashmir, said medical doctors in JUTH were being denied of skipping, even when non-doctors were enjoying the privilege.
The association also noted that its members were working under difficult conditions in JUTH because of lack of consumables, such as hand gloves and some emergency drugs such as oxytocin.
NARD also decried the non-payment of training allowances to resident doctors, shortage of house officers and under-payment of the few available ones, which led to many moving out of the hospital.
Among other demands are the resumption of skipping payment, provision of essential consumables in the hospital.
Others include immediate payment of outstanding training allowances, employment of house officers and payment of their entitlements.