LAUTECH TEACHING HOSPITAL CRISIS

CDWR CALLS ON OYO STATE GOVERNMENT TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF LAUTECH DOCTORS, NURSES AND OTHER HEALTH WORKERS

We Urge NLC and TUC to Organise  Solidarity Action

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) Oyo State Chapter condemns the failure of the State Governor, Seyi Makinde to resolve the crisis rocking Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, and by extension the medical school of the university. We call on the state government to immediately meet the demands of medical doctors and nurses of the teaching hospital.

Resident doctors have been on an indefinite strike since July 29, just about four months after they had suspended a previous strike which lasted for one month. The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has also issued a 15-day ultimatum effective from September 4 to the management of the teaching hospital. This means that the crisis will be further compounded if the demands of nurses and midwives are not met by the expiration of the ultimatum.

Besides, while the hospital consultants who double as lecturers in the university are working, the absence of resident doctors has meant that there is little they can do. However, they have also withdrawn from classroom teaching of medical students for over a month as the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) of LAUTECH  are on strike over the non-implementation of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and non-payment of arrears owed since January 2025 by the university management.

Therefore, the crisis has not only crippled health care delivery at the only tertiary health facility owned by Oyo state but has also stalled medical education and clinical training.

We support the call by the LAUTECH medical students on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene in the crisis as we hold that the government’s insensitivity towards the plight of the health workers and by extension the medical students, whose training has been paralyzed by the industrial actions, is condemnable, hence unacceptable!

It is important to state that, in addition to other issues bordering on welfare and working conditions, both resident doctors and nurses are in dispute with the government over the non-implementation of the new minimum wage.

The Association of Resident Doctors of the teaching hospital stated in an open letter to the state governor: “Central to this crisis is the non-implementation of the new minimum wage package signed into law by your administration in January 2025. While the package has been implemented for other health workers directly employed by the state, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital – operating on subvention-has not received the necessary increment to comply.” As a result of this, they added: “Currently, our personnel earn salaries approximately 30 per cent lower than colleagues employed directly by the state government, despite performing equally demanding roles”. The CDWR condemns this discrimination against the health workers of the LAUTECH teaching hospital in the implementation of the new minimum wage and supports their demand for an immediate payment along with accrued arrears from January 2025.

Other issues for the resident doctors are disbursement of the Medical Residency Training Fund; payment of accoutrement allowance; recruitment of resident doctors across all departments; and renovation of call rooms. On their part, the nurses and midwives demand  the payment of promotion arears from 2018 to 2024, recruitment of additional nurses to address staff shortages and renovation and proper furnishing of nurses’ stations and rooms to improve working condition. All these demands are not beyond the capacity of the state government to meet, if it prioritizes the welfare of its employees and the provision of quality healthcare services to the people of Oyo State

Therefore, we call on the Makinde-led government to take concrete steps to address the grievances of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers of LAUTECH teaching hospital. There must be a genuine effort to engage with the workers and find a lasting solution to the crisis.

The state leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) must support the demands of the health workers and mobilize members for a series solidarity action. These can include press conference and a peaceful protest that bring together LAUTECH doctors, nurses, other health workers and medical students in a joint action together with other workers in Oyo state, civil society activists and ordinary people in solidarity.  We believe that such a collective action can help force the government  to take the necessary steps to meet the demands of the workers so that the teaching hospital can resume its primary function of providing health care delivery and medical training.

Abiodun Bamigboye (Abbey Trotsky)

CDWR State Coordinator

E-mail: [email protected]