Resident doctors at the Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, have commenced an indefinite strike.
The strike, according to the doctors, is in protest of shortage of medical personnel in the hospital.
A statement issued by the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Oluwayemi Ogun on Thursday, said the doctors complained of a gross shortage of manpower, resulting in huge workload.
They attributed the shortage to what they termed “a rising exodus of doctors” from the psychiatric hospital.
They also claimed that failure to employ more doctors “to reduce the extreme workload on the few doctors that are left to cater to the multitude of patients who throng the hospital on a daily basis,” was impacting negatively on them.
They said that their plight was compounded by poor condition of service.
“About 40 doctors exited the hospital within the past five years, yet only 15 doctors have been employed within this same period.
“This has created a severe manpower crisis that has affected service delivery to patients. The hapless doctors are consequently overworked, succumbing to stress-related illnesses,” the statement said.
