46 Doctors Resign Their Appointment In COOUTH Over Poor Working Condition
No fewer than 10 consultants and 36 resident doctors have resigned from the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka over the poor working conditions, management inefficiency and poor pay package.
Chairman of Medical and Dental Consultants (MDCAN) at the hospital, Dr. Chukwudi Okani, said the doctors were “frustrated out of the system because of poor management in the last one year and many are seriously searching for better places to go.”
He said the COOUTH has the worst condition of service in the whole of Nigeria teaching hospitals and urged the Governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano to immediately intervene to save it from imminent collapse.
According to him, the ongoing indefinite strike embarked by his members would continue until the government meets their demands of a better condition of services so that doctors will not be leaving COOUTH.
Okani said that both the state government and the management of the teaching hospital are not serious in addressing the multiple problems facing the teaching hospital.
According to him, the consultants and residents would return to work only on the condition that the Anambra government pays them a minimum of 70 percent of the revised CONMESS.
“Let us be reminded that our benchmark for return to work is at ladder 70 percent of the revised CONMESS as agreed at the committee level,” he said. “This is the only teaching hospital in Anambra state and the state government cannot effectively put it in order, pay liveable wages to the workers to retain the good brains in the hospital who are leaving for other institutions”.
He also disclosed that most of the departments in the teaching hospital do not have consultants, who assist in the training of the resident’s doctors and treating patients. He denied that the government has met their demands, saying that the government was just playing to the gallery.
Anambra State government reacts
The Anambra state commissioner for Health Dr. Vincent Okpala who spoke to newsmen on the issues on Wednesday admitted that many medical professionals had left institution but the government was working on revising the trend.
According to him, the state government has come up with a good package that would make the doctors stay and also attract better brains to the college. “Government has supplied modern equipment to the college and very soon those who left would like to come back,” he said.
