The medical services at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan may be worsened from next month as Medical and Dental Consultants at the hospital have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike. The consultants said on Friday that ‘painful but inevitable steps that may disrupt existing industrial harmony existing between our association and hospital management” if by next week their outstanding allowances are not fully paid. The hospital's Chief Medical Director, Professor Temitope Alonge was however insisting that the hospital management was doing all it could to meet the consultants demands. The Consultants, while addressing newsmen, drew public attention to the non-payment of their salaries for three months despite all the steps they allegedly made to the management to see to the payment of the money. Chairman of the hospital's branch of the Medical and Dental Consultants’Association(MDCAN),Professor Juwon Arotiba who spoke on behalf of the consultants , said members of the association have met severally with the hospital management including Professor Alonge,appealing to them on the need to see to the payment of the money. ”We have called you this morning to intimate you of the impending and unprecedented industrial dispute that is about to erupt between our association, the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, UCH Branch and the management of the University College Hospital , Ibadan over three months and counting of unpaid allowances(wages) to our members. "You will recall that the federal government through the Ministry of Finance began the implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System(IIPPIS) in some Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria, UCH inclusive. "The implementation was fraught with so many errors and gross inefficiency of the magnitude that compelled our association to reject the scheme until such a time the government can guarantee its flawless implementation,(or at least minimal flaws). "Furthermore, in view of the peculiarity of the appointment of the honourary consultants in the hospital with regards to the fact that their primary employer is the Ministry of education through the University Governing Councils , it was resolved in a parley between the Nigeria Medical Association and representatives of relevant agencies of government to keep the Honorary consultants out of the scheme for the time being while the payment of their emoluments should continue through the existing channel i.e. the release of personnel emolument from Ministry of Finance through Head of Institutions to individual accounts," he said. According to him, since the effective commencement of this Agreement in August, only two months’ salary has been paid of the last five months with second payment been made only last month representing September allowances. This erratic and delayed payment of these allowances, he said had caused untold hardship and embarrassment to our members as routine financial obligations such as school fees for their children and loans repayment are being jeopardized. "As we speak, our members have received no payment this month of December with its usual need for money due to festivities. This is in addition to unpaid October and November allowances.“We are calling on the management and relevant government agencies who may have a role to play in actualizing the payment of our outstanding allowances to do so before the end of this month otherwise we may be compelled to take painful but inevitable steps that may disrupt the existing industrial harmony between our association and the hospital management,” he added. The hospital's Chief Medical Director however said everything possible was being done as at press time to see to the payment of the consultants