Gbenga Odogun
Doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, have expressed displeasure over the alleged continued casualisation and victimisation of resident doctors by the management of the hospital, led by its Chief Medical Director, Dr Olatunde Alabi.
A total of eight doctors from different departments, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity because of fear of victimisation, lamented that there had been no permanent employment of resident doctors since 2012.
The doctors decried the gross shortage of manpower and its adverse effects on the patients at the hospital, appealing for urgent intervention by President Bola Tinubu.
According to them, issues affecting doctors at FTH Lokoja include gross shortage of resident doctors across various departments, casualisation, excess workloads, victimisations, nonpayment of salary arrears, and epileptic power water supply.
Others are suspension of the residency training program, denial of medical officers with primary in-house training, poor accommodations, poor call meal supplies, and non-availability of essential drugs in the hospital especially A/E pharmacy, among others.
They accused the management of operating the hospital on casualisation where resident doctors were placed on “locum”, and renewed their employment every two months, without pension and other benefits.
The doctors stressed that the locum being practised by the management for over 12 years, had led to a mass exodus of doctors from the hospital which they described as an “internal brain-drain”.
A male doctor said, “Locum in the sense that every doctor will carry paper to go and be renewing his/her employment every two months, but our colleagues in other places are giving permanent pensionable employment.
“We had a total of 190 resident doctors in 2020, but the figure has dropped drastically to only 94 to run a hospital that receives an average of 5,000 patients weekly.
“Presently, we have 50 resident doctors, and 44 Medical officers making a total of 94 doctors who see an overwhelming number of 5,000 patients in a week.
“Of the 94 doctors, 64 are on IPPIS, while 30 doctors are on GIFMIS called locum. And out of 50 resident doctors, 41 are Senior registrars, and nine Registrars,” .
He stressed that the figures had even reduced to 82 doctors in the last three months, restating that the last time the management of FTH Lokoja recruited resident doctors was in 2012.
Another doctor told our correspondent that the hospital’s management had been given excuses of not being given waiver by the federal government to employ permanent doctors, but described the claim as untrue.
The doctors also decried the excess workloads and its adverse effect, which the hospital management has refused to address despite several complaints and appeals by the leadership of the Association of Residents Doctors.
According to them, the excess workload varies across the departments: Only two to three doctors see above 300 patients daily in GOPD.
Meanwhile, the CMD of the hospital, Olatunde Alabi, said the Federal Government had refused to give the hospital a waiver to migrate their staff on locum into the Integrated Personnel & Payroll Information System Department, stressing that getting a waiver is a cumbersome process.
The CMD noted that the exit of some experienced staff from the hospital was due to the popular ‘Japa Syndrome’ is a major cause of the staff shortage.
Alabi further noted that the strict process of hiring new staff was also hindering the replacement of those who have left the hospital.
According to him, “some staff preferred to breach their bond and travel abroad, which he stated has become a common trend.
“The Federal government had refused to give the hospital waiver to migrate their staff on locum into IPPIS platform, stressing that getting a waiver is a cumbersome process.
“There was no timeline as regards when will the hospital get a waiver to migrate our members into IPPIS.” He said.
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