By Asma’u Ahmad
The warning strike embarked upon by resident doctors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has begun to take toll on some patients on admission at the hospital in Idi-Araba, Lagos.
Health Reporters gathered that only few consultants, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians and cleaners were at their duty posts as the strike entered the third day.
Some of the patients that spoke with newsmen appealed to both the Federal Government and the doctors to call off the strike in the interests of the public.
One of them, Mrs. Bukola Adewole, said the strike was taking its toll on the stranded patients, and was also worsening their conditions.
She urged the health workers to do all within them to end the strike and avoid future recurrence in the interest of the patients.
Another patient, Mr. Joseph Okafor, appealed to the striking doctors and the Federal Government to reach an agreement that would put a stop to the recurring menace in the nation’s teaching hospitals.
He said: “Majority of Nigerians cannot afford the cost of services being rendered by private hospitals and our only hope is the government hospital. But on getting here, we hear the resident doctors are on strike. The consultants alone cannot attend to us all.
“We are pleading to the doctors and government to reach an agreement that will end the strike for patients to get the necessary attention and treatments,’’ he said.
Also, Mrs. Aminat Sule regretted that she had not been able to see her doctor since the previous day because of long queues of patients waiting to be attended to by the few consultants that were available.
“I am here again today and I hope there will be a doctor to attend to me. My appointment was yesterday but the crowd was too much due to the strike on ground,” she lamented.
It would be recalled that the leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had on May 10 directed its members nationwide to embark on a warning strike to pressurise government to meet its demands.
