During the PUNCH HealthWise visit to the hospital on Tuesday, our correspondent observed that patients were brought to the Accident & Emergency Department.

It was gathered that there were no doctors on ground to attend to patients, as the resident doctors were said to have fully complied with the directive given by the parent association, NARD.

Our correspondent reported that consultants and other healthcare personnel offered skeletal medical services to some patients in the absence of resident doctors.

According to a male source at the hospital that didn’t want to be identified, treatments were being carried out by consultants, who were becoming overwhelmed by work pressure.

The source alleged that consultants took care of the situation by first stabilising patients before they were referred to the Military Hospital in Yaba for comprehensive treatment.

The source further said that new patients were not being admitted into the wards because efforts were being made to give those on admission and in critical condition the best care, using the few available hands.

At the General Outpatient Department, the seats lining the corridor were haphazardly occupied by patients waiting to see a consultant on duty, even while the waiting area, which is usually overcrowded on normal days, was empty.

At the Surgical Outpatient Department, Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Haematology Clinic, Dermatology and Neurology Units, few patients were also seen waiting to see a physician.

A woman, Bola Ajuwon, who said that her daughter had been on admission at the Female Surgical Ward for the past three weeks, told our correspondent that nothing had changed in terms of treatment.

She, however, said that it now takes a while before patients in the ward get to be reviewed by a doctor, unlike when several resident doctors were available.

Speaking with our correspondent, Chairman, LASUTH Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Ojekunle Azeez, said there was full compliance with the strike in line with the national directive.

He expressed regrets hat doctors had to embark on an indefinite strike, especially as the pandemic was still on.

“We didn’t intend it to get to this extent; however, since there was no positive response from the government, we had to embark on strike,” he added.

Azeez, a Senior Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said aside the Federal Government’s failure to meet doctors’ demands, there were other local issues that were still pending at the state level.

“It entails the implemented medical residency training pact 2017, the full implementation of which we are awaiting; likewise the aspect of recruiting more residents, medical officers and house officers.

“There is also the aspect of providing residential quarters for our members here in the state. Just as our names imply, we are meant to be resident within the hospital premises. It is shocking that not even one resident doctor is being accommodated in the hospital.

“So, these are the local issues and we are calling upon the Lagos State governor to listen to our demands so that there can be improved, optimal service delivery in the health sector,” he said.

Dr. Azeez also warned that any violation or disregard to directives guiding the ongoing strike by doctors would be heavily sanctioned by LASUTH ARD.

“We have monitoring teams locally and another from the south-west national body caucus, likewise from the national body. There are sanctions in place and our members understand the full implication of these outstanding issues and challenges, and it is not unexpected that they are all compliant.

The ARD chairman said there was no disparity between the association at the state and the federal levels.

“The issues and demands being made have to do with members at federal and state institutions, and we are both working hard to ensure that the demands are all met.

“The implementation of the Medical Residency Training Act and the financial sponsorship and recruitment of more members affect doctors at both the federal and state levels.

“These are issues of common interest. Some state tertiary institutions are in crises in terms of owing salaries. Abia State owes resident doctors 20-month salary; Imo, five months and Ondo, three months.

“These are local issues that tend to become crises nationally. However, the national body is committed to the healthcare system of the nation, by trying to ensure that doctors are in a good state of welfare to be able to deliver good healthcare services to the masses.

He said that Lagos State had been consistent with salary payment, but that more still needed to be done in terms of closing the salary disparity between doctors employed by the state and their federal counterparts.

Azeez urged the Federal Government to accord full and tangible commitment to NARD’s demands, noting that so much havoc has been caused by these crises and there is a need to put an end to it.

“We are willing to return to work if the Lagos State Government and the state chapter are ready to address challenges affecting healthcare delivery.

Responding to our correspondent’s enquiry on the claim that critically ill patients were being transferred to the Military Hospital in Yaba, the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabanwo, said it was not true.

He, however, admitted that patients were initially being transferred out, but that the management had to put a stop to it on Monday.

Speaking to our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday, the CMD explained that consultants were working, as well as medical officers that were newly employed by the hospital.

He, however, confessed that the doctors’ strike had affected the operations of the tertiary hospital.

Said Fabamwo, “We have some medical officers that we had employed and they are not resident doctors.

“Consultants and medical officers have been able to manage emergency cases. We don’t transfer patients to Yaba.

“When the strike started, they were seeing cases, attending to them, and then sending them out, but we stopped that on Monday.”

Fabamwo admitted that the strike had affected medical services at LASUTH, adding, “We can’t do elective surgeries and clinics are running low-key because it’s only the consultants that are there. There is just so much that they can’t do.

“But we are ensuring that we don’t lose any life, that’s why we are doing emergency services.

“If you have hernia and you need to have an operation, it can wait. But if you have an emergency case like stroke, it can’t wait, it has to be treated.

“We are treating emergencies and managing them. So, the strike has really affected us.”

source: Punch