The non implementation of the Consolidated
Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) by Lagos State government has been attributed to
the mass resignation of doctors from the service of public hospitals in the
state.
This was made known by the State Chairman of the Medical Guild, Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote at a press conference to announce the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Medical Guild at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja,Lagos
Odusote who said the shortage of doctors was already impacting on health care services negatively, therefore called on state government to address the shortage urgently by implementing CONMESS.
According to State Chairman of the Medical Guild, “the resignation of these doctors has increased the burden of work on those that are still in service, "
“Some colleagues who cannot cope have left the system, with increasing burden on others who remain in service. This shortage of doctor is worse in LASUTH,” he said.
Odusote claimed that some patients now have to wait for close to five months or more to access the service of a surgeon.
He explained that the acute shortage of doctors is experienced in all the 26 units of hospitals across the state with that of LASUTH being the most prominent.
He however said, "This has been brought to the attention of the authorities and we hope urgent action will be taken to prevent further deterioration in service delivery."
The Medical practitioner who gave a sad statistics of the situation in LASUTH said the facility now has 24 House Officers instead of 80 that used to work there.
He highlighted three key issues that have remained outstanding in CONMESS as: Teaching allowance to Doctors on level 10 & 12 are yet to be paid; Consultants are still being employed on GL 15 Step 1 as opposed to Grade Level 15 Step 4; and the demotion to Step five of some doctors which is yet to be corrected.
While he noted efforts of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to resolve the issues, "We have met government once with Lagos NMA to discuss these issues and other fallout of the crisis without any headway the national body of the NMA has since requested a meeting with the government, but this has not yet been fixed by government."
Instead of addressing the problems by employing more doctors, the government has resorted to employing locum doctors who are said to be better paid, but lack the commitment to provide care service.
This was made known by the State Chairman of the Medical Guild, Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote at a press conference to announce the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Medical Guild at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja,Lagos
Odusote who said the shortage of doctors was already impacting on health care services negatively, therefore called on state government to address the shortage urgently by implementing CONMESS.
According to State Chairman of the Medical Guild, “the resignation of these doctors has increased the burden of work on those that are still in service, "
“Some colleagues who cannot cope have left the system, with increasing burden on others who remain in service. This shortage of doctor is worse in LASUTH,” he said.
Odusote claimed that some patients now have to wait for close to five months or more to access the service of a surgeon.
He explained that the acute shortage of doctors is experienced in all the 26 units of hospitals across the state with that of LASUTH being the most prominent.
He however said, "This has been brought to the attention of the authorities and we hope urgent action will be taken to prevent further deterioration in service delivery."
The Medical practitioner who gave a sad statistics of the situation in LASUTH said the facility now has 24 House Officers instead of 80 that used to work there.
He highlighted three key issues that have remained outstanding in CONMESS as: Teaching allowance to Doctors on level 10 & 12 are yet to be paid; Consultants are still being employed on GL 15 Step 1 as opposed to Grade Level 15 Step 4; and the demotion to Step five of some doctors which is yet to be corrected.
While he noted efforts of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to resolve the issues, "We have met government once with Lagos NMA to discuss these issues and other fallout of the crisis without any headway the national body of the NMA has since requested a meeting with the government, but this has not yet been fixed by government."
Instead of addressing the problems by employing more doctors, the government has resorted to employing locum doctors who are said to be better paid, but lack the commitment to provide care service.
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