Medical doctors under the employ of Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health, have appealed to the state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, to direct the payment of 14 months salaries of the newly recruited housemanship officers in the three referral hospitals.
This is contained in a press release signed by the state chairman of the Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners, Akwa Ibom State branch, Dr. Aniekeme Uwah, during a media briefing on Monday.
It read in part “in as much as the association appreciates the employment of new medical and dental practitioners into the state workforce, to boost her medical manpower and also meet the needs of this critical sector, the current scenario where these highly skilled manpower have not been paid their salaries since employment more than a year ago is defeating the aim of these laudable objectives.
“When a worker is engaged, the payment of salaries should not be taken for granted. But unfortunately, this is not the case here, and it is really discouraging”, he said.
Uwah humbly appealed that the situation should be addressed promptly as every worker is entitled to his wages, “for the labourer is worthy of his pay” (Luke 10:70. The medical and dental health practitioner needs to be well motivated to have the right psyche and frame of mind to carry out medical operations such as Caesarean Session (CS), leparotomies, etc.
“The newly employed Medical and Dental Practitioners are facing a lot of hardship, suffering and the indignity of the non-payment of their salaries for more than a year now have really bruised their psyche and self esteem. The newly employed Medical and Dental Practitioners have lots of difficulties going to work, meeting personal domestically needs and even feeding.
“Lest we forget, a hungry man is an angry man. Therefore, we can't afford to allow a doctor to be angry and expect excellent health outcomes. The untold hardship being faced by these newly employed medical and dental practitioners as a result of non-payment of their emolument is better imagined than explained…
“Very recently, on the 2nd of November, 2015, one of the newly employed doctors was involved in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) while on a commercial motorcycle to work, which led to his sustaining multiple rib fractures. As I am addressing you today, the Doctor is struggling to pick his medical bills.
“The health care delivery system is adversely affected by the non-payment of this highly skilled manpower and there is a need for urgent steps to be taken to stem the tide of decay of the system because the current scenario could lead to a brain drain of this highly skilled manpower.
“The current scenario adversely affects the housemanship programme in the 3 group referral hospitals in Eket, Oron and Ikot Ekpene, where housemanship has started after so many years. The current scenario is capable of promoting and increasing the trend of malpractices and misconducts in the profession setting, which the government has been battling to curtail…
In view of the above, we humbly and respectfully request His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel in the spirit of the 'Dakkada' to use his good office and disposition to medical and Dental Practitioners to direct the payment of the salaries of these newly employed medical and dental practitioners to reduce and alleviate their pains, hardships, sufferings, frustrations and also save the health care delivery system from further decay before it is too late”.
They however, pledged their continued loyalty and support to the state government, to enable it deliver the much needed dividends of democracy to the state.
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