•Anglican Communion urges better welfare  for physicians

From Magnus Eze, Abuja and Ali Abare, Gombe

 

The Federal Government will today meet again with the striking resident doctors and other stakeholders to resolve the on-going industrial action.

The meeting scheduled at the instance of Labour and Employment Minister, Senator Chris Ngige, is a crucial conciliation effort by government after the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) allegedly reneged on a collective bargaining agreement reached with Federal Government on September 1 to shelve the strike.

A statement by the ministry’s spokesman, Samuel Oloowokere, said: “In view of this unfortunate development, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the Trade Dispute Act 2004, has apprehended the on-going strike by NARD. Consequently, the meeting between NARD and government earlier scheduled for November 2, 2017, is now convened   for Wednesday, September 6, 2017, by 12:00 noon at the Conference Room of the  Minister.”

It implored all stakeholders to attend the meeting, stressing that the health and well-being of Nigerians were cardinal to the present administration, hence, every necessary measure shall be taken to restore normalcy. 

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The doctors are protesting the failure of government to pay their salary shortfall of 2016 and January to May, 2017, and rectify the salary shortfall from August, 2017, as well as inability to circularise House Officers’ entry point.  Other contending issues include the failure to correct the stagnation of promotion of their members and properly place them on their appropriate grade levels; failure to enroll and capture resident doctors on the Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS); as well as failure to budget, deduct and remit both the employer and employees’ contributions pension to our retirement savings account since 2013.”

A copy of the MoU of settlement eventually rejected by the NARD’s NEC, which was obtained by Daily Sun, noted that some Federal Tertiary Health Institutions (FHTI) had paid a percentage of salaries to resident doctors and were consequently in arrears of salary payments to them and honorary consultants.

Since the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation had started processing the arrears, the meeting urged AGF to forward the list of the recipient FHTI to the Minister of Health to ensure that the released fund was used for its intended purpose. The payment for other FHTI not captured would be implemented before the end of October 2017. 

Meanwhile, the Gombe Diocese of the Anglican Communion has called for enhancement of the welfare packages of medical doctors as a matter of national importance.

The Diocese, in a communiqué, issued at the end of its sixth synod, which held at the Christ Anglican Church, Bogo, in Gombe, called on the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to embark on a holistic reformation of the health sector by providing modern medical equipment as a way of reducing medical tourism of Nigerians to foreign countries.

The communiqué, made available to journalists yesterday, and signed by the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Reverend Henry C. Ndukuba, also said if such steps were taken, it would go a long way to reduce industrial actions and brain drain which have bedeviled the health sector of the country.