Industrial action grounds Nsukka, Port Harcourt varsity hospitals

Clinical services were yesterday paralysed at the Universities of Nigeria and Port Harcourt Teaching Hospitals (UNTH) and (UPTH) as consultants joined the fray to demand for better pay and welfare.

The UNTH confirmed that the action of the top medical officials has compounded the situation, saying the development was “not funny”. Consequently, scores of relatives were seen relocating their loved ones to other facilities.

One of the affected persons, John Ugwu, said he was moving his sick mother to “any private clinic where I can get attention for her medical needs for now.”

In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, most patients, whose relatives could afford alternative medical services, were evacuated to privately-owned facilities.

Unlike previous industrial actions, there were no skeletal services even at the emergency unit of the hospital. Chapter chairman of the association, Don Baridan, said the strike was total and would remain so until government addresses their grievances.

Some of the patients slated for surgeries were discharged while those with complicated cases advised to seek help elsewhere. They, however, appealed to government and the doctors to urgently sort out themselves in the interest of the populace.