The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, on Thursday urged the LUTH management to withdraw the queries given to three senior registrars of the institution.
They also urged the management to pay the outstanding salaries of some resident doctors and house officers.
The president of the association, Dr Kayode Makinde, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Makinde said that three of their members were given queries based on an alleged conversation on the association’s WhatsApp-closed-user group chats.
“The association condemns in totality the queries issued to their members over unfounded and unverified accusations on a social media platform of the association, the WhatsApp group.
“It is a closed-user-group platform, solely set up for interaction among members of the association.
“Members of the association have cause to believe that all other forms of spying and covert surveillance on our members on their phones, in the wards, call rooms, clinics and even their residences have been instituted by the LUTH management.
“It is actually a great assault to the integrity, privacy, security and sovereignty of our great association.’’
The association also said that some of their members including resident doctors and house officers were being owed up to four months’ salaries.
“This sort of irregularities has become entrenched in the pattern of payment to our members, more especially the house officers, who are a critical workforce of the hospital,’’ he said.
Makinde said they were also facing chronic, severe and unbearable shortage of resident doctors and house officers across all departments and units within the hospital.
He said that this was no longer healthy for his members or safe for optimal patient care.
“It is on the record that the last time any interview and subsequent recruitment of resident doctors was conducted in LUTH was in 2016.
“We have also sent our demand on internal security within the premises and environments to the management.
“No single implementation of the minimum demands which our association put forth to the LUTH management regarding measures to improve internal security of lives and properties in LUTH has been carried out.
“Walking within the premises in the night is always risky and dangerous and we will not allow another preventable tragedy befall any of our members again,” he said.
Makinde said that in the last five years, their members had been responsible for their own residency training in LUTH.
He said that other teaching hospitals’ managements had been paying residency training.
“Also, the Medical Residency Training Act signed into law in year 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari has made provisions for funding of residency training which includes 20 per cent of internally generated revenue by training institutions.
“We want the LUTH management to pay all salaries due to our member.
“They should also begin to employ resident doctors and house officers, improve the security challenges in LUTH and its environs and payment of arrears of exam and update fees.
“There should be an immediate letter of apology from the LUTH management addressed to the association and the effected resident doctors and a reassurance that they will never spy on the associations activities again.
“Failure to comply means that members can no longer feel safe and continue to work in an environment where their activities are spied upon by the management,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Dr Kemi Abiloye, the Treasurer of the association, said that the LUTH management should address the issue of outstanding salaries of some resident doctors and house officers.
Abiloye said that the management should work with the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by making sure resident doctors salaries were paid.
“House officers are being paid by the LUTH management and they are also denying them their salaries; these house officers are fresh graduates.
“The house officers are the major workforce of the hospitals; I believe the management need to encourage them by paying their outstanding salaries,’’ she said.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of LUTH, Mr Kelechi Otuneme, said that the management would address all the demands of residents doctors.
Otuneme said: “All demands of the ARD are internal administrative issues and we are addressing them one by one.’’
