The management of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba (FNPHY) has appealed to the resident doctors at the hospital to call off its ongoing strike.
Mrs. Philomena Omoike, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) and an Assistant Director at the hospital, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.
NAN reports that the resident doctors from the hospital had embarked on the strike on July 31.
Omoike said the resident doctors were agitating for the engagement of no less than 15 more resident doctors and 10 local doctors.
She added that they were also asking for an increment in their Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) from the current CONMESS 2 Step 3 to CONMESS 3 Step 2 among other issues.
According to her, the hospital’s management is making efforts to grant the demands of the aggrieved resident doctors.
She said that the hospital at present had 37 residents doctors and recently employed five new local doctors after the doctors had started their strike.
Omoike said that the hospital was making efforts to ensure that more doctors were employed so as to ease the work of the resident doctors.
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“On August 5, the hospital employed five new local doctors and had written to the Federal Ministry of Health and other authorities responsible for recruitment of the doctors in that regard.
“Meanwhile, the hospital in 2014 and 2019 employed not fewer than 15 resident doctors each, which were inclusive in the existing 37 resident doctors of FNPHY.
“In Nigeria today, recruitment does not come easy particularly for specialists like Psychiatric doctors.
“To recruit a Psychiatric doctor is not a one-day affair; it requires a lot protocols, bureaucratic processes and certifications which needed time to accomplish,” Omoike said.
She expressed concern over the negative effect the doctors’ industrial action had continued to have on the hospital and the public.
She said that it had slowed down the normal activities in the hospital.
She, however, commended the other doctors and the staff members of the hospital who had continued to perform their normal duties that included attending to patients.
Omoike said that the FNPHY would remain a reference place for resident doctors.
She said that it would be appreciated if the doctors would call off the strike and return to work.
Omoike said that with that the workers of the hospital would continue to work as a team as they had always done. (NAN)
