....Our hands are tied - Management

...No, Your're insensitive - Doctor

 

Patients have not been getting affordable skilled care at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC)Katsina for over eight weeks now. 

 

This is as a result of the strike embarked upon by members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in the hospital to press home their grievances. 

 

The doctors decided to commence the action after 17 months' push against a brickwall. The umbrella body of the doctors recently denounced the non-challant attitude of the hospital management team, warning that the management has turned the hope of thousands of Nigerians for comprehensive treatment to 

nightmare and sorrow. 

 

ARD President in the hospital, Dr. Suleiman Mohammed Usman, expressed concern that the management was yet to call a single negotiation meeting since the commencement of the strike towards resolving the critical issues. 

 

Dr. Usman said ARD was not against the Nigerian populace but the policies, injustice, discrimi- nation and insensitivity of Dr. Umaru Farouk Abdulmajid-led management of the hospital. "For record purposes, our grievances with the management include salary shortfall from January to February, 2014, non-payment of December, 2014, salary to 54 resident doctors and house officers and non-payment of salary arrears of newly employed Doctors for four months," he said. ' ; 

 

Among other demands are non-payment of relativity arrears, non-payment of training fees for the'last 12 months which covers a year for Resident Doctors and non-implementation of 'skipping' for Doctors in Federal Medical Centre, Katsina despite doing so for other health workers since December, 2013. 

 

The ARD president, while condemning the failure of the . management to ease the suffering 'of the average citizens and that of the Resident Doctors alike, noted that the doctors' demands were "local issues generated here in FMC, Katsina and the solution lies within FMd, Katsina. The Federal Government and other agencies have already done the needful." 

 

He appealed 0 well-meaning individuals and groups to call the management ofFMC, Katsina to order and lay to rest the hardship being melted out to his colleagues. 

 

The association, he said, was not unaware of the medical director's mantra of ''No money," "it is not captured in the budget," "it is for Federal Government to implement," "FG has no money" and such made bold to give a breakdown of the cost implication of their demands and the revenue profile of the hospital. 

 

He disclosed that the hospital with internally generated revenue of about N 16 million per month required about N15.6 million to settle all their grievances. 

 

"An increase ofN345.55 million was made to the personnel cost ofFMC, Katsina for the 2015 budget year, raising monthly salary allocation to N175.36 million per month, out of which N15 million is for statutory deductions. How then can the said amount not pay our full entitlements in FMC, Katsina (in skipping)," he asked. 

 

Usman also frown at the reduction and miscalculation of personnel emolumerit of doctors' salary and allowances in the hos- pital since January and wondered why necessary steps were yet to be taken to tackle their dilemma. 

 

"We call on relevant government agencies including the security, budget and anti-corruption agencies to look closely into our affairs in FMC, Katsina so as to stop such occurrences and ensure justice to all," the ARD boss stated. 

 

However, the management of the hospital has denounced the allegations of insensitivity and higbhandedness leveled by the striking doctors against the hospital. 

 

Responding to the doctors' claims, the acting Medical Director and Head of Clinical Services, Dr. Suleiman Belo Mohammed, who spoke with newsmen as the FMC Medical Director, Dr. lJmar Farouk Abdulmajid, was away in Abuja on official assignment, said the hospital won't mind a dialogue with the striking workers, but the issues at stake were not local issues but national and the responsibility of the Accountant General, of the Federation office. 

 

"If there is need to negotiate, we will sit down and negotiate but the issues at stake in this strike are majorly the issues of skipping which are issues of remunerations or personnel emoluments. As most people that work with Federal Government are aware, personnel emoluments are now the responsibility of Integrated Payroll System (IPS) of the Federal Government in the Accountant General's Office and because of that, the issues are not local issues but national issues," he submitted. 

 

Abdulmajid added that all federal hospitals were instructed last year not to implement the issue of skipping in their submission until the case between the government and the umbrella union of the doctors concerning the issue of skipping was resolved. 

 

"You cannot implement some-thing that has not been captured in the budget because that would amount to financial misappropriation which is a crime against Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)," he ex- plained. 

 

He emphatically stated that the hospital could not use its IGR to offset the doctors' emoluments because it would also amount to financial misappr:opriation. On the issue of relativity arrears, Abdulmajid posited that they would also be paid through IPS platform by the Accountant General's office not FMC, Katsina. 

"We plead with ARD to look at the suffering of the common man and to look at the situation of this country. Now is a period when everybody needs to put heads together to be able to bailout this country from all the difficulty that we are in," he appealed. 

 

To him, their primary calling as medical Doctors is to save lives, what comes with being a doctor is secondary. 

Hear him: "Let us work together and see how we can get the Federal Government to appropriate this money and release this money so that the entitlements can be paid. Pending that let them come back to work and let's continue to serve the people of our country." 

 

BY ANDY ASEMOTA, 

Daily Sun