Resident Doctors’ Strike: Patients Vacate ABUTH, Ear Centre

The nationwide strike embarked by Resident Doctors has crippled activities at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria as patients were seen vacating the hospital on Wednesday.

Also affected was the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, where the doctors have also joined the strike.

Checks by correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday revealed that many patients and their relations were busy leaving the hospitals.

A relation to one of the patients on admission at ABUTH, Malam Gambo Yakasai told NAN that they decided to seek for alternative medication elsewhere.

“We were shocked when the information about the commencement of the strike reached us. We therefore have to think of how to transfer our patients elsewhere, since we cannot allow them to be knocked down by sickness,” he said.

Mrs Maryam Ibrahim, said she was in the hospital on appointment, adding, “this strike is neither good for the patients nor for the nation.”

When contacted, the Chief Medical Director, ABUTH, Prof. Khalid Lawal said consultants had been deployed to provide skeletal services at the hospital.

“Our consultants are providing skeletal services in the hospital, our Accident and Emergency unit is also providing its usual essential services. Even during the previous strike our consultants provided skeletal services,” he said.

On patients vacating the hospital, Lawal assured that most of them had “less severe illnesses” and were discharged by the doctors.

At the National Eye Centre, patients were also seen waiting at the Out-Patient Department with no doctors to attend to them.

Dr Yohanna Joseph, the Chairman of the Resident Doctors Association of the centre said they had joined the indefinite strike.

According to him, the strike will continue until all issues of training, work conditions and salary are fully addressed.

On his part, Lawal Bala, the Public Relations Officer of the centre said the management had deployed consultants to fill in the gap caused by the strike, assuring that services at the hospital would not be grounded.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman, Kaduna State Diabetic Association, Alhaji Sani Hassan described the persistent strike in the health sector as “pathetic”, and called for urgent negotiations to end the current strike.

“I want to plead with both parties to sheathe their swords for the betterment of the health sector and the nation at large.”