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Resident doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, have commenced an indefinite strike over poor accommodation, unpaid salaries for newly recruited doctors and the withdrawal of call duty meals.
The industrial action began at 8 a.m. on July 20 after efforts to resolve the issues with hospital management failed, President of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), LUTH chapter, Dr Omogbolahan Adenuga, said in an interview with Punch News on Monday.
According to Adenuga, the doctors are demanding the immediate completion of the renovation of the hospital’s residential quarters, payment of salaries owed to newly employed doctors who are yet to be enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), and the restoration of call duty meals.
He said the prolonged renovation of the doctors’ quarters, which has lasted about 18 months, has forced many resident doctors to sleep in their cars or hospital lounges while attending to patients.
“Doctors are sleeping in their cars and in hospital lounges while treating patients. We need the Government to release funds so the Chief Medical Director can complete the renovation immediately.
“The building has been locked for almost 18 months, but it has not been completed because of lack of funding. We need the government to intervene urgently and give us a timeline for the completion of the project,” he said.
Adenuga explained that the delay, which hospital management attributed to inadequate funding, had placed additional strain on doctors, some of whom commute daily from distant parts of Lagos, including Badagry and Ikorodu.
He called on the Nigerian Government to release funds to enable the hospital complete the renovation and provide a clear timeline for the project’s completion.
The ARD president also decried delays in enrolling newly recruited doctors on the IPPIS platform, saying some doctors employed in April had not received salaries since resuming duty because they had yet to be captured on the payroll system.
He further urged authorities to restore call duty meals, describing them as a long-standing welfare entitlement for resident doctors working overnight shifts.
“Those employed in April have not been captured on IPPIS, so they have not received their salaries from April till now. We are demanding that IPPIS officials immediately capture them so they can be paid,” Adenuga said.
“Call duty meals are what doctors eat while on overnight duty. It is an entitlement given to doctors across the country. It is not good for doctors working through the night not to have access to meals,” he stated.
According to him, the association had engaged the hospital’s management before embarking on the strike, but officials said inadequate budgetary allocation had prevented them from addressing the concerns.
Adenuga appealed to the Nigerian Government to increase funding to LUTH or permit the hospital to retain more of its internally generated revenue to improve staff welfare and complete critical projects.
He also called on the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, and other relevant authorities to intervene urgently to prevent a prolonged disruption of healthcare services.
The ARD president said the doctors remained open to negotiations but insisted the strike would continue until concrete steps were taken to address their demands.
“We will negotiate with them, but something must be done before the strike is called off,” the LUTH ARD president said.
Resident doctors across Nigeria have repeatedly embarked on industrial actions over welfare issues, including unpaid salaries and allowances, manpower shortages, poor working conditions and inadequate hospital infrastructure.
