Resident doctors at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) in Awka have threatened to embark on industrial action over unpaid allowances and poor working conditions imposed by the state government.
The decision followed the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued to the government, which recently elapsed without any meaning response on their plights.
President, Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Dr. Onyebuchi Ichoku stated this on Tuesday after a meeting with the doctors in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
The doctors are demanding the payment of hazard allowance, Medical Residency Training Fund, and the implementation of a 25 percent increase in basic salary, effective from July 2023.
Ichoku hinted that doctors had been struggling with harsh working conditions including inadequate facilities and equipment that had hindered their capacity to provide optimal care to patients.
The doctors said: “We have been patient and have given the government enough time to address our grievances, but unfortunately, they have failed to do so.
“We cannot continue to work under these difficult conditions, risking our lives and those of our patients. We urge the government to take our demands seriously and take immediate action to address them.”
Reacting, the Chief Medical Director of COOUTH, Dr Joe Akabuike noted that the demands are legitimate and would be addressed.
Akabuike said though the allowances and increments had been implemented at the Federal level, but the state government would do so within the available resources.
Though the government has pledged to improve the working conditions of doctors but the association is worried that little or no progress have been achieved.
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