Resident doctors at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, have commenced a three-day warning strike.
The doctors are protesting the alleged failure of the state government to recruit more house officers and resident doctors.
The President, LASUTH Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Balogun Fatai, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that the strike was total, and that it involves both emergency and clinical operations in the hospital.
He said that in spite of the agitations of the association and its meetings with the government and management officials, there were no signs that new resident doctors would be engaged in the hospital.
“Although, some house officers are reporting for work, yet they are not enough to call off the strike because the resident doctors that form the hub of the workforce of the hospital have yet to resume duty.
“We are made to know that the governor has not yet given the approval as expected; that is what is stalling the recruitment of new doctors in the hospital.
“That is why we are embarking on a three-day warning strike, which is total; no member of the association will attend to patients during the strike.
“We are expecting 172 doctors, at the minimum, to start work; that will cushion the effect of what is going on now at the hospital,” he said.
Balogun, however, noted that consultants were on ground to see their patients, although smooth operations cannot be guaranteed without resident doctors.
