Following the indefinite strike embarked upon by doctors, patients on admission at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan were on Wednesday asked to go home or seek treatment from other hospitals. It w as gathered the national strike embarked upon by the National Association of

Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) had paralysed services hospital.

All the sections in the hospital were affected except the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Accident and Emergency Units ( A&E) where few resident doctors and consultants rendered skeletal services to save lives of patients on life support machines and those found to be emergency cases.

It was all pains and agony for many families of patients who could not afford the cost of transfer to private hospitals or state owned hospitals.

“We are forced to leave the clinic because of the strike action. Even when I

explained that my son is not fit to go home, we were told that was what the

situation demands .

"I came all the way from Benue state for major treatment here for my son. We are stranded with no hope for my son, " Mrs Margaret Ugah said.

Mrs Ugah is one of many patients in the premises of UCH yesterday with no money to continue treatment in any private or state hospitals. 

The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee and Chairman, Clinical Services ,Research and Training , Professor Abiodun Otegbayo said the management had in view of the strike put palliative measures to cushion the effect of the strike on patients.

"Actually, it is understandable that the strike will virtually affect clinical services in the hospital. However, we are trying to cope because we still have others like consultants rendering skeletal services and also, in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) we have few residents’ doctors attending to patients. "So, not that all the doctors abandoned their jobs just like that, we have made provisions for critical cases and emergencies. Only those who were certified to be fit that were discharged, to reduce the volume of patients because of the few available doctors," he said. 

The Vice President, National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) , UCH branch, Dr Oluwaseun Adebayo said members complied fully to the directive of the National President of NARD to proceed on nationwide strike.

"As law abiding citizens, we have to comply with the directive from our national body," he said.

 He, however corroborated the views of Professor Otegbayo, saying that "we are doctors and not butchers . We have some of our members taking care of our patients not fit to be discharged especially in the Intensive Care Unit and emergency department"

 Adebayo who listed demands of the association to include flaws  in the payment of salaries of members since the introduction of Integrated Personnel Pay Roll and Information System ( IPPIS) since June, failure of recently reintroduced overseas clinical attachments for resident doctors and the refusal of government to redeem

the 10 percent meant for health personnel, called on well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Federal government to accede to the demands of members.