Posted on: Wed 26-05-2021

RE ENROLMENT OF MEDICAL DOCTORS IN ACADEMICS INTO THE INTEGRATED PAYROLL AND PERSONNEL INFORMATION SYSTEM (IPPIS) 

I am directed to refer to the above-mentioned subject and inform your office that it has come to the attention of the Commission that medical doctors who are academic staff in basic medical sciences of Federal Universities are being enrolled on Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and associated allowances instead of the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS) and associated allowances. The consequence of this, among others, is avoidable over bloating of the wage bill, and distortion of relativities in salaries in the universities and hospitals, which has the tendency to escalate industrial crises. 

It should be noted that medical doctors who are employed as academic staff are entitled to the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS) and related allowances while the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and its associated allowances apply to medical and dental doctors who are employed in Federal hospitals and clinics to render clinical services. However, where a medical doctor in the academics renders clinical services to a university teaching hospital as an honorary consultant, it is the teaching hospital that will pay for the clinical services rendered. It is only university teaching hospitals that can engage honorary consultants and not universities' clinics. 

It should also be noted that the conditions of service for medical doctors who are academic staff in the universities and medical doctors who render clinical services in the hospitals are distinct. For instance: 

1. CONUASS is negotiated by academics whereas CONMESS is negotiated by doctors for those in the hospitals and clinics; 
2. whereas the entry point for medical doctors in academic is GLOB equivalent, that of medical doctors in the hospitals and clinics is GL12, thus doctors-lecturer on GL 08, 09 and 10 equivalents do not have counterparts in CONMESS; 
3. medical doctors in academics are promoted based on “publish or perish” among other conditions whereas the promotion of medical doctors in the hospitals and clinics are not based on the same criteria; 
4. medical doctors in academics aspire to become professors and retire at age 70 years Irrespective of length of service with associated benefits whereas medical doctors in the hospitals and clinics aspire to become consultants and retire at age 60 years or 35 years of service with associated benefits; and 
5. medical doctors in academics enjoy academic earned allowances such as excess work load, responsibility allowance, field trip/teaching practice / industrial supervision allowance, etc whereas medical doctors in the hospitals enjoy earned medical allowances such as call duty, specialist allowance, rural posting allowance, etc. 

In the light of the above, it will not be appropriate to allow any medical doctor to combine the conditions of service in both Universities and hospitals and clinics. 

You are therefore, kindly requested to re-enroll medical doctors and other health workers in academics and research institutes on appropriate salaries and allowances which is CONUASS and CONTISS II and CONRAISS respectively. 

Please inform the Commission as soon as action is taken to enable us update our records. 

Please accept the warm regards of my Chairman 

Signed:

Adighiogu, A. Chiadi, MCIPM

Ag. Director, Compensation 

For Chairman 

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