The resident doctors of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital have announced plans to embark on an indefinite strike over the lack of doctors and insecurity.
They also said they were striking to demand better funding for their residency programmes in the state.
The Association of Resident Doctors, which represents them, issued a communiqué on Monday in Enugu, signed by its President, Chukwunonso Ofonere, and its Secretary-General, Ikemefuna Nnamani.
The communiqué said the doctors had decided to go on strike in an emergency meeting on December 8, 2023, if the Enugu State Government did not meet their demands by January.
The communiqué said the strike would start on January 31, as the state government had not met its demands even after a 14-day ultimatum and 49 days of grace.
The communiqué said the teaching hospital management and the state government had not declared a state of emergency on the recruitment of doctors or the security and safety of the hospital.
The doctors blamed the government for breaking a promise it made over 180 days ago, through the Secretary to the State Government, Chidiebere Onyia, to hire more resident doctors.
The doctors said they were worried about their security and safety, as the security personnel who used to guard the hospital gate were no longer there, and the attacks on doctors had increased. They said they and other health workers in the hospital were not safe.
“The management should declare a state of emergency on the employment of doctors in the hospital. There should be urgent approval for the recruitment of medical officers, resident doctors, and house officers in the hospital.
“This recruitment should be focused especially on the Accident and Emergency Department, Surgery Department, Internal Medicine Department, Pediatrics Department, Obstetrics and Gynecology Departments,” the communiqué said.
“Management should ensure implementation of safety policies to protect her workers against physical attacks and kidnap by restoring the daily police and other covert security personnel deployed to the hospital.
“The 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund has not been paid, and exam bodies are closing their adverts,” it said.
The communiqué said the doctors had not received any salary increases, and the house officers were left out of the hardship/palliative of N25,000 given by the state government.
“We are still back to where we were in 2023, or even worse, as plans are on the way to increase the rents of those living in hospital quarters (one-bedroom apartments) by about 375 percent, from N8,000 to N30,000 monthly.
“This will escalate the already palpable crises, and we will be left with no other alternatives but to protect the interests and welfare of our members,” the doctors said.
The doctors urged Governor Peter Mbah to intervene urgently in the situation to prevent suffering and death that might result from the disruption of health care services in the state.