NMA stays away from Lagos doctors strike

[TheNation]

 The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has shelved its planned solidarity strike with Lagos doctors. The planned strike, it said, will no longer hold.

It said it has set up a negotiating team with the government to find solution to the on going strike.

Lagos NMA Chairman Dr Edamisan Temiye said the assoication’s decision followed a meeting the NMA had with its parent body in Abuja, between last Tuesday and Friday.

He said: “We wish the team concludes with the state within the shortest possible time so that doctors can go back to their duty posts.”

While the dialogue is going on, Temiye said, the strike in the state would continue.

Chairman, Medical Guild Dr Olumuyiwa Odusote said the striking doctors met the House of Assembly on Saturday in a bid  to find solution to the problem. The meeting was deadlocked.

He said the parties have slated another meeting for today.

Patients are still not been admitted in most of the government-owned hospitals  while those on admission have either been discharged or referred to Federal Government owned hospitals or private health facilities to seek care.

At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), patients were advised to access treatment in other facilities. Some of the in-patients have been discharged while some are being attended to by nurses.

Those in critical care have been referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and some top private hospitals. The Surgical and Medical Emergency Units have discharged patients to the wards. It was gathered that no major emergency was being attended to in the hospital in the last two weeks.

The situation is the same at the General Hospital, Lagos, where patients have been advised to try other hospitals for medicare.  The Primary Health Care (PHC) centres, however, were attending to patients with minor ailments.



TheNation