Some resident
doctors at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku/Ozalla,
Enugu, have backed out of the ongoing strike action declared by the
Association of Resident Doctors, ARD in the hospital, saying the strike
was unnecessary and against the interest of the patients.
The
resident doctors said it was quite disheartening that “soon after
calling off an industrial action which lasted for almost three months,
some politically-minded hatchet-men commenced another strike without
sympathy for the helpless patients who should be protected by the
Hippocratic Oath that we all took as medical doctors and who attend the
hospital as their last hope.”
A
statement signed by two members of ARD UNTH chapter, Dr. Maxwell N.
Egbugara and Dr Ihechiluru Oyebuchi, on behalf of Concerned members of
the ARD and made available to newsmen in Enugu at the weekend, also
condemned the publication made in a national daily by one Dr. Ifedinso
Ugwuoke entitled “UNTH performs surgeries with candles, torch-lights,
-ARD president; Pediatric Dept loses accreditation, Docs embark on
strike”. They decried the publication by Ugwuoke and his cohorts,
which they alleged, was highly political, parochial, misconceived, paranoid and unreasonable.”
“The
malicious, vicious and one-sided publication was purely geared towards
destabilizing, creating anarchy, inciting the UNTH population and
tarnishing the self-evident good performances of the Chief Medical
Director (CMD) Dr. Christopher C. Amah.
“We
have therefore decided to completely dissociate our humble selves from
these tales of lies and ungodly action by this group as we have now
realized that a cabal is using some of our members to destabilize the
progress in the hospital in order to discredit the UNTH Management led
by Dr. C. C. Amah. We believe that criticisms should be positive and
issue-based and not vicious and vague attacks on personality and good
performance,” the statement said.
Continuing,
the ARD members said, “while we agree with the fact that a majority of
our members are not happy that the “Skipping” promised by UNTH
Management has not been paid to us (on the grounds that it was
unauthorized and unfunded) the congress at no time directed the
Executive Committee or the President of ARD UNTH, to embark on a
campaign of calumny, name-calling and outright falsehood against the
person and office of the CMD in particular and the Hospital Management
in general.
“It
is pertinent to note that the ARD President misinformed the congress so
as to enable him to embark on his premeditated strike as concocted with
his cabal.
“He
told us lies that the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation
(AGF) and the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) budgeted for and
released funds to the CMD for the payment of “skipping” to Resident
Doctors. This false claim has been countered by a circular from the
Federal Ministry of Health (FMH) with reference number C.2262/T/111
addressed to the Chief Medical Directors of all Federal-owned Hospitals,
wherein it was clearly stated that “Skipping” was not budgeted for in
2015. Thus the CMD in trying to convince the Executive Committee of ARD
opened up the financial records of the hospital for their perusal.
“The President of ARD while addressing the congress on 16th October
2015 lied that he did not see the said financial records. The congress
rejected the strike option due to poor and inadequate information from
the Executive Committee, but the President went ahead to declare a
strike with effect from Monday October 19th 2015 to please his sponsors.
“Some
of us have been Resident Doctors in UNTH for upwards of five years and
we can boldly and honestly say that UNTH has moved forward in leaps and
bounds in the last four years. The Management of UNTH under Dr. C. C.
Amah has reactivated the National Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Excellence
to a world-class status. The Centre has performed well over one hundred
Open-Heart Surgeries since march 2013 when it was reactivated after ten
years of inactivity. Last week alone eight patients successfully had
Open-Heart Surgeries in the centre.” The doctors noted that such
successes could not have happened in a hospital that is “dead” using Dr.
Ugwuoke’s word.
“The
Dr. C.C Amah led administration apart from ensuring a dedicated line to
the hospital from the public power supply (which has remarkably
improved power supply to the hospital), Management has equally provided
many functional power generating sets to boost power supply to various
departments in the hospital including a 1000KVA CAT generating set
solely dedicated to the main operating theatre complex and the adjoining
Radiology Department.
“The
UNTH Management has in addition provided solar powered electricity
supply in various parts of the hospital to further ensure steady power
supply to all parts of the hospital. The above highlighted achievements
are just to mention but a few. It is therefore amazing that the
hospital is now said to be in total darkness to the extent of using
candles and touch-lights to perform surgeries as claimed by Dr. Ugwuoke
and his cabal. This public dance of shame by this group is also
laughable as President Buhari’s administration has pushed Power
Distribution Companies to provide about twenty hours of electricity
daily.”
According
to the ARD members, many Resident Doctors had been sponsored abroad for
skills acquisition in modern medical practice, explaining that “the
chronic challenge of water supply in the hospital has also been
positively addressed with the sinking of boreholes in the hospital,
something that was hitherto believed to be impossible.”
The
doctors further pointed out that under Dr. C .C. Amah’s management, an
up-to-date Neurosurgical Ward and a Private (VIP) Ward (never in
existence before) were provided while the Radiotherapy facility (the
only one in the entire South-East and South-South geo-political zones)
which his administration met in a moribund and vandalized state, was
promptly reactivated and put to use.
“The
Dr. C. C. Amah led administration in UNTH, through many robust
collaboration with overseas partners from United States of America (USA)
and the United Kingdom (UK) has attracted to UNTH (especially the
Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Excellence) Seven 40-ft containers load of
medical equipment and consumables worth billions of naira as free
donations to the hospital.
“The
Dr. C. C. Amah led administration has recently by the downwards review
of out-sourced services contracts in the hospital saved UNTH over N120,000,000.00 (One Hundred And Twenty Million Naira) annually.
“Dr.
C. C. Amah led administration in UNTH Enugu has dramatically and rather
unbelievably reduced the cost of clearing grasses in the hospital
premises from over N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) per month to a mere N380,000.00
(Three Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira) per month! This was achieved
by deploying slashing machines operated by local but trained casual
workers,” they further observed.
As
part of its welfare programme for the medical personnel, the Resident
Doctors’ call duty rooms have never received as much attention and
upgrade as they have under Dr. C. C. Amah’s administration. “New
television sets, micro-wave, air conditioners, refrigerators and
wardrobes have been provided and general repairs effected in all
Doctors’ call duty rooms.
“The
House Officers were not left out of the largesse. Their residential
Quarters (HOQ) are being renovated, and the dilapidated road network
around the HOQ are also receiving desired face-lift,” the statement
said.
While
admitting that no management could solve all problems/challenges thrown
at her at the same time, the ARD members, however, appealed to the CMD
not to take to heart the insensitive, insulting, provocative, reckless
and perfidious actions of the cabal.
“We,
as non-parochial, integrity and equity-driven concerned Resident
Doctors will want to maintain the good relationship we have always
enjoyed with the Dr. C. C. Amah led administration which is befitting
our professional call and the Hippocratic Oath we all swore to.
“We
also appeal that he uses his vintage and vantage position and good
offices to get our “Skipping” captured in the 2016 budget as we assure
him of our unalloyed support in his already impressive efforts to uplift
the enviable standard and status of UNTH.”
“We
therefore, unequivocally condemn the reckless actions of Dr. Ifedinso
Ugwuoke and his cohorts both in the above-stated article and the Social
Media in their entirety as they are myopic, inordinate, misconceived,
treacherous, partisan, insular and esoteric as they all tend to remove a
fly on the face of UNTH and her Management with a sledge hammer. The
cabal is merely singing the voice of their masters who are behind the
veil and not that of the majority of the law-abiding members of ARD,
UNTH,” the statement added.