Members of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), Ondo town chapter, have begun indefinite strike over alleged poor condition of service.
The doctors were said to have protested on Monday after management of the hospital refused to accede to their demands.
They demanded a stop to illegal deductions from their salaries, check on huge payment of taxes, non-payment of hazard allowance, among others.
President of UNIMEDTH ARD, Dr Olaogbe Kehinde, said the workload was too much for doctors in the hospital.
He said many doctors had resigned, while others left without prior notification due to poor condition of service.
Olaogbe said the hospital management refused to pay heed to their request for a review of their working conditions.
He said the strike was a difficult decision due to failure to address critical issues affecting their members, infrastructure and the delivery of quality health care services.
Olaogbe said doctors could no longer work under conditions that undermined their well-being and compromised patient care.
He urged the state government to expedite payment of outstanding salaries and allowances, improve working conditions in the three centres across the state and ensure prompt implementation of their demands.
“We demand the correction of irregularities and discrepancies in salary payments, implementation of the new minimum wage scale and parity in salary payments with other tertiary hospitals, as stipulated in the teaching hospital constitution, among other issues.
“We deeply regret any inconvenience this strike may cause patients and the public.”
Former president of the striking doctors, Dr. John Matthew, said the disparity between the salary of doctors in Ondo State and others was huge due to illegal deductions and taxes.
He said many doctors in the state had taken up appointments in other states.
“We will not return to work until our demands are met. Money is the core issue because this is what is driving doctors away. There is huge disparity in payment between Ondo and Ogun states. Doctors will go to states that are giving them good welfare packages, but they are worsening the terrible welfare here.
“The issues are illegal deductions from our salary and the humongous taxes we are paying. It is killing the system and driving doctors away.
“The hospital was disconnected from the national grid and we were sleeping and working in the dark,” Matthew added.
Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Gbala Michael, pleaded with the striking doctors for more time, to enable management address their grievances.
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