The Lagos State government has said the sacking of the 788 doctors in its employ is not a ploy to decimate the medical profession as being alleged by the Nigeria Medical Association.
The government described its action as an intervention by a “responsible administration” to prevent deaths in its hospital.
The state’s Head of Service, Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe, stated this in a statement on Saturday.
The NMA members in federal hospitals in Lagos had on Friday embarked on solidarity strike to press home its demand for the recall of their sacked colleagues.
Ogunlewe explained that while the doctors had the right to declare an industrial dispute through a strike, they also had a duty to serve notice on government so that adequate preparations could be made to monitor patients on admission in hospitals.
Ogunlewe said, “The decision of the doctors under the Medical Guild to abandon the hospitals without the notice stipulated by law caught government by surprise and led to many deaths. No responsible government will tolerate that.”
Ogunlewe argued that in developed countries, the medical doctors would have had to deal with criminal suits from patients for abandoning them.
He said NMA action and claim on the sacking amounted to blackmail.
“It is begging the question to accuse the state government of attempting to decimate the medical profession when indeed the government had invested heavily in human personnel and physical infrastructure in the health sector to globally acknowledged level.”
He added that the sacking of the doctors was necessary in order to protect the public service and ensure that illegality did not become the order of the day.
On the allegation that Governor Babatunde Fashola left the meeting with NMA mid-way, Ogunlewe explained that the real grouse of the doctors was the refusal of the governor to overrule their employers, the Health Services Commission.
“The governor told the doctors that it would amount to a breach of procedure to overrule the commission and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital Board by executive fiat
“If we are talking about the need to build and respect institutions, then it’s wrong to expect the governor to just over rule an institution like that.
“There is an established procedure through which these errant doctors were recruited, queried and sanctioned.
“The same established procedure has a process for appealing and the best path to a resolution of the situation is for the sacked doctors to seek recourse to the procedure.”
I guess the errant doctors really need to have a recourse ,because they are not the only one in the health sector and more so the medicalprofession is a compassionate one,so why the blackmail called strike,they are very lucky they are not overseas.
ReplyDeleteThis so called doctors have not respected human lives,they have not considered the number of lives that have died due to their negligence called strike.
My question to all the errant doctors and fellow doctors supporting their colleagues in this strike action is this,do you guys remember your hippocratic oat you took while graduating from medical school?
The blood of the innocent citizen that have died will continue to hunt you,and you shall give account of it before God.
Gov.Fashola you are in the right track,they are all fools in white coates and sethoscopes on
pls kindly ask gov fashola how much he takes home every month as his security vote, salary,feeding allowance,entertainment allowance,etc not to talk about the illegal cuts he gets from fraudulently awarded contract then you ask the same for all other politicians in nigeria,senators,members of house of reps,chairmen,ministers,etc. yet they have the guts to sack over 700 trained medical doctors who have been renderering humane services to the people more than those fargots called politicians. My stupid friend above is talking about patients sueing doctors abroad,go and ask and u will find out that doctors are the highest paid professionals abroad. but i dont blame him,he too must be a lowlife dumb fargot himself to make such comments, HE JUST EXPOSED HIS ILLITERACY AND LACK OF GREY MATER IN HIS ROTTEN BRAINS
ReplyDeleteYou the second anonymous you deserve more insult than the first person, because you have nothing realy to offer. I don't know whether you are a doctor or not but remember doctors are in politics too are they also "fargot"? Doctors in Nigeria think no one else went to school, they are very selfish and greedy. If they want to earn like Fashola or politicians let them join politics.They are not the only professional working in the hospital or public service but their aim is to collect double what everybody is collecting.
ReplyDeleteMy friend let that guy been fooling itself with statement he can't defend. U are even comparing ur self with the Lagos state Governor, if u are a Doctor while not drop ur white coat and be a politicial. My friend, they are not just greedy but selfish and heartless. God have mercy on them.
ReplyDeleteThere is no justification for sacking doctors in the employ of the lagos state govt. u dont treat profesionals like whimps.
ReplyDeleteFact - did the govt reneldge on their promises to the doctors - yep they did,
Fact- in this country of ours is strike not the language our govt. understands- yep.
Fact- Were the doctors justified for going on strike- May be, May be not
but does that mean sacking the doctors is the most resonable solution to the problem -definately NO!!.
Two wrongs dont make a write, a reasonable govt. will try to Solve the problems rather dan intensify the situation.
Question - Are we saying that since government sacked the doctors health care delivery as improved or worsened? you and i no the obvious answer so lets not be skewed in critical and sensitive matters like this but objective.