EXODUS OF DOCTORS FROM OOUTH
Gov. Gbenga Daniel
Addressing a press conference in Sagamu yesterday, Dr. Adeniyi Ogundipe, the branch president of (ARD), also stated that 30 of his members and several others were on waiting list to disengage from the system.
His words: 'This hospital is a training institution and when the consultants who are supposed to be the trainers of the trainees are leaving massively, who will then train us. This hospital is in a sorry state and something urgent needed to be done to address these problems,' the president added.
According to him, the poor condition of service had also affected three senior registrars of the tertiary institution being a credible training institution.
Ogundipe alleged that the doctors were leaving because of irregular payment of salaries and allowances as well as failure on the part of government to implement Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) and payment of 17 months of Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Scale (CONTISS) arrears. The doctor also listed among other challenges, irregular power supply in the hospital and the remittance of the counterpart funding of the Contributory Pension Scheme.
'When conditions of service, working environment, remuneration and job satisfaction fall below what is available in other parts of the state and country as a whole, people begin to resign and find better options. 'Most of the doctors went to other teaching hospitals in the country, UCH, LUTH, LASUCOM, OAUTH, some to federal medical centres and others are out of the country. The most worrisome aspect is that almost all the remaining doctors have attended interviews in the last couple of months. They are resigning as their appointment letters are being released,' Ogundipe said.
While explaining that members of the association had been grappling with problem of irregular salary payment for over a year, he appealed to Governor Gbenga Daniel to come to their aid. Ogundipe, who spoke in the presence of the association's General Secretary, Dr. Olumide Abiodun said that various concerted efforts made by the association to ensure that things did not get out of hand proved abortive.
He added, 'Over 50 doctors have resigned; another 30 are on waiting list or on their way out of this hospital. This cut across all cadres of doctors. We have a critical situation on our hand. 'This hospital caters for accident victims along the ever busy Lagos-Ibadan and Sagamu-Benin expressways. They may not necessarily be citizens of Ogun State. Services and training are being jeopardized. We have started walking backwards,' Ogundipe explained further.
He added that the association decided to embark on indefinite strike from the beginning of this month to press home their demands, calling on well meaning citizens of the state to save the hospital from degeneration.