Medical practitioners have warned of the impending doomsday in the Nigerian healthcare system if urgent steps are not taken to address issues of inadequate remunerations and poor welfare for medical personnel.
This warning was given by the striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, while speaking on the industrial action by the trainee doctors, a development that has hampered healthcare service delivery in Bayelsa State and across the country.
At the Federal Medical Centre Yenagoa in Bayelsa State deserted premises, vacated wards and empty labour rooms explain the situation on ground in the state.
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They are also unhappy that issues such as insurance coverage, payment of adequate hazard allowance and the exhorbitant bench fees charged for residency training by many healthcare facilities, among others, have not been addressed by the regulating medical board authorities.
This, according to them, has led many medical practitioners to seek greener pastures outside Nigeria.
While more senior doctors are battling to fill the huge vacuum, many Nigerians are hoping that an amicable compromise would be reached, to forestall further stress on Nigeria’s already struggling healthcare system.
(Edited by : Tunde Orebiyi)
