TheCable

The management of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital in Bauchi says it has suspended non-emergency surgeries due to the strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

The association had directed its members across the country to embark on an indefinite strike which commenced on August 2.

“We are embarking on a total and indefinite strike on August 2, 2021. You can recall we had a memorandum of action on March 31, 2021, and had an addendum to it on April 9, and since then, we still have had irregularities in the payment of salaries to the house officers,” Okhuaihesuyi Uyilawa, NARD president, had said while announcing the commencement of the strike on Sunday.

“We had issues with them, being non-regular payment, and as part of the memorandum of action, it was said that they should be captured back into the IPPIS platform.

“You are aware that we lost 19 members to COVID-19 and death in service insurance was supposed to be paid to their next of kin.”

Speaking on how health services would be affected at the teaching hospital, Saidu Kadas, chairman of the medical advisory committee (CMAC) of the hospital, in an interview with NAN in Bauchi on Monday, said emergency cases would be taken in order to mitigate the impact of the nationwide strike.

He listed the trauma centre, maternity unit, intensive care unit (ICU) and pediatric sections, as departments where critical cases would be attended to.