FG rescinds decision on striking doctors

Following the indefinite strike action been embarked upon by the National Association of Resident Doctors in protest for what they refer to as "poor welfare conditions", the federal government who hitherto issued a directive to all heads of the various federal government health tertiary institution to as a matter of immediate urgency fill the needed vacuum been created by the striking doctors has rescinded its decision as contained in a memo after an emergency meeting held Tuesday night. The meeting which had the speaker of the house of representative in attendance together with the minister of health and leaders of the resident doctors reached a resolution on the way forward.     

Also in attendance was Minister of Labour represented by the Permanent Secretary, Salaries and Wages Commission, Chairman of Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Health Institutions,  Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Association of Consultants and Leaders of Resident Doctors Association.

The resolutions reached at this meeting initiated by Hon. Yakubu Dogara saw all the aggrieved parties shifting grounds and reaching a conclusion on either sides of the divide.  See details of the resolution below;

“Ministry of Health to come up with list of those entitle to skipping and the amount and when they will pay them in one week. Forty two (42) institutions that have not been implementing skipping should be asked to commence implementation immediately.

“Committee of CMDs to meet in one week and implement skipping by June and any CMD that is unable to pay should appear at the next meeting on July 14. The judgment of the Industrial Court must be executed.
“That by First week of July guidelines on Residency Training will be made available.

“Entry point for House Officers should be from Commess 9 step 4. Or 1 step 1. It should be implemented immediately by the Chief Medical Directors.

“They should also start implementing pensions immediately

“Those unfairly sacked. Resident Doctors Association to make available records of all those sacked unfairly to the ministry of Health. Minister of Health should issue circular to CMDs to review the issue of those sacked unfairly without recourse to the earlier circular detailing the template to be followed. Circular to be sent out on Wednesday June 22nd 2016 by the Minister to all health institutions and Federal Medical Centres running the Residency programme.

“FMC Owerri’s case. Issue of FMC Owerri be revisited. Meeting appealed to Minister to take a second look at it since doctors did not declare strike abinitio

“IPPIS will be implemented immediately

“Doctors should be migrated to the platform with immediate effect. Speaker to meet with Minister of Finance on the issue of IPPIS for all doctors.

“Speaker should appeal to state Governors to pay Resident Doctors.

“Minister of Health said: “We will do everything humanly possible to implement all the decisions arrived at in this meeting including the fact the circular sacking Resident doctors be ignored by all the parties concerned.”
“Resident doctors leaders at the meeting agreed to appeal to their members to suspend the strike until the next meeting of July 14, 2016.”

It will be recall that a mandate was given by the federal government prior to the above meeting as contained in the circular below 

The Circular reads: “It has come to the notice of the Management of the Ministry that some Resident Doctors in your establishment have voluntarily withdrawn from the Residency Training Program by refusing to report for training without authorization.

“Public Service Rule, PSR 030402 (e) is relevant. This is in spite of the ongoing negotiations on their demands put forward by the representatives of the National Association of Resident Doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association.

“In view of this development, you are hereby directed to replace all the Doctors that have withdrawn their services, with others from the pool of applicants for the training programs in the various disciplines in order not to create ominous gap in training with attendant disruption of health care delivery in your facility”.