It’s been a while I posted in hive naija, for numerous reasons, one of which is the fact that I haven’t been myself lately but that should change.
As many of us are aware, Resident doctors in Nigeria which include the House officers, Registrars and Senior registrars have been on strike for the past two months as a result of issues which the Federal government has failed to settle over a long period of time, Some of which were nonpayment of salaries, hazard allowance amongst many other issues.
This led to a hard ball between the National Association of Resident Doctors and the federal government that dragged on and even led to court.
Taking a strike means fighting for your right and the things you are entitled to and strikes usually have negative impacts especially in the health care setting.
For starters, hospitals affected have to refer their patients to other private hospitals which would be overwhelmed with patients and with more workload being placed on their own workers, many surgeries that have been scheduled for patients would have to be postponed ‘till further notice’.
Also, the doctors who aren’t being paid during the strike, many of them have families which would also be on the receiving end of the effects of the strike. It should also go without mention that many lives were lost during this period due to lack of adequate care.
The strike was however called off two days ago and work resumed to normal today. Getting to the hospital today, you could tell many people were suffering at home due to inaccessible health care. There was a lot of crowd, traffic at the hospital gates, many people moving up and down.
I got to wear my white coat for the first time in two months and I can say it’s great to be back 😁
One of the things the Federal government should look forward to avoid is another strike as this would have deleterious effects on the healthcare system. Basic things such as payment of salaries should not even be something to ponder on. I hope things get better and the lives of Nigerians aren’t put on hold again in the future.
Thank you for reading
