The Association of Resident Doctors, Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (ARD-KWASUTH), has directed its members to continue their industrial strike over unmet demands from the Kwara State Government.
The President of ARD-KWASUTH, Dr. Abdulfatah Abdulazeez, announced the decision on Tuesday in Ilorin in a statement made available to reporters.
Although the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its nationwide strike, ARD-KWASUTH was granted approval to continue its local action if its grievances remained unresolved.
According to Abdulazeez, there has been no response from the state government and no meeting has been held to reach a conciliatory position on the challenges confronting the teaching hospital.
He lamented that the government had yet to address the manpower shortage and other issues affecting healthcare workers and patients, including allowances and working conditions.
“In spite of our commitment and engagement with various bodies to improve service delivery and quality healthcare, unresolved issues have made it impossible to maintain optimal service delivery.
“Our key concerns include manpower gaps. We urgently need House Officers with improved remuneration and more resident doctors to prevent losing our residency accreditation,” he said.
Abdulazeez added that doctors were still being owed their 2024 and 2025 accoutrement allowances.
He also decried the poor working environment in the hospital, which he said continued to hinder doctors’ ability to perform their duties effectively.
ARD-KWASUTH said it would continue its industrial action until the state government addresses the issues affecting quality healthcare delivery.
