LAUTECH resident doctors protest unpaid arrears, understaffing
By Adejayan Gbenga
Resident doctors at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, have protested over poor working conditions, understaffing and unpaid wage arrears.
The doctors, under the Association of Resident Doctors, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, staged the protest on Wednesday, demanding urgent intervention from the Oyo State Government and the hospital management.
In a statement signed by the association’s President, Dr Mustapha Adedapo, and the Public Relations Officer, Dr Abdulrahman Fofie, the doctors said they had been operating under difficult conditions that had affected their welfare and professional dignity.
The doctors said they were facing severe understaffing, unpaid minimum wage arrears, unfulfilled allowance promises and dilapidated call rooms. They warned that poor working conditions could affect the quality of healthcare delivered to patients.
They also stressed that their demands were not for luxuries but for basic human dignity, fair compensation and proper funding of medical residency training. They further appealed to the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, government officials, hospital management and other stakeholders to urgently address the issues.
The doctors said resolving the challenges would allow them to return their full attention to their primary responsibility of saving lives. They maintained that their patience had limits but vowed to remain united in pressing for improved conditions.
The protest followed earlier concerns raised by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors over the shortage of resident doctors at the hospital. NARD said several doctors had left without replacement, while those who completed their residency training had also not been replaced.
NARD identified anaesthesia, chemical pathology and haematology among specialties affected by the shortage and called for the payment of outstanding minimum wage, promotion and accoutrement allowance arrears, implementation of the new professional allowance, release of the Medical Residency Training Fund and rehabilitation of doctors’ call rooms and on-call facilities.
